BANGKOK, July 10 (UPI) -- A legislative leader has urged Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to end emergency measures for the entire country.
The emergency decree has already been lifted in five provinces. Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Bondej believes it can safely be ended for the other 19, the Bangkok Post reported.
Security measures are hurting the tourist business, Prasopsuk said, because they make travel in Thailand seem unsafe.
Vachara Channikar, a spokesman for the Chart Thai Pattana Party, a member of the governing coalition, said the emergency decree should be enforced with care.
"The government must be careful not to be seen as using the emergency to destroy the opposition," he said. "It should not be indifferent to or deny suggestions from the National Human Rights Commission concerning this matter."
Abhisit does not appear ready to lift the emergency law. He told the Thai News Agency he believes existing security measures are adequate for any protests launched by the Red Shirt Movement around the July 26 birthday of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
