BANGKOK, April 4 (UPI) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose political stock has crumbled amid corruption allegations, said Tuesday he will resign, a report said.
In a brief TV address, Thaksin apologized to the 16 million Thais who voted last weekend to elect him to a third term -- balloting that the three main parties boycotted.
"I want to see Thai people unite and forget what has happened," The Washington Post reported of Thaksin's remarks. "Let's clean up our house and stop the chaos."
That chaos included huge demonstrations calling for Thaksin's resignation on allegations he improperly benefited when his family sold their telecommunications business.
The business was sold to a Singapore company in January for $1.9 billion.
While Thaksin offered to resign once the new Parliament convenes and selects a new prime minister, opponents again called on Thaksin to resign immediately.
The Nation newspaper called for an independent investigation to examine "corruption and allegations and conflicts of interest involving Thaksin, his family and their cronies."
