Abhisit marches into North

Pulls crowd of 4,000 in Pheu Thai stronghold

Prime Minister and Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday strode into the Pheu Thai stronghold of Phayao province to canvass for votes, drawing a crowd of about 4,000 on the first day of his northern campaign.

Addressing a rally at a municipal sports stadium in Muang district, he said his party was ready to work with everyone equally, including those who do not choose the Democrats.
In its more than two years in power, the government had been patient in running the country and tackling national problems.
He said the party's promises of public welfare policies would be delivered and that reconciliation would forge cooperation that is essential for smooth execution of future policies. He said he had proven a lot of people wrong when the government kept the unemployment rate low.
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Mr Abhisit was accompanied by leading Democrats, including Industry Minister Chaiwuti Bannawat and PM's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey.
The Democrats took turns to criticise Pheu Thai's rice mortgage policy, which they said would benefit wealthy intermediaries rather than poor farmers. They also slammed Pheu Thai's rice mortgage programme as impractical, saying that only 20% of farmers would benefit from the scheme which would be open to abuse by intermediaries such as rice millers.
Mr Abhisit and his team helped campaign for three Democrat candidates running in three constituencies in Phayao - Mallikar Boonmeetrakul in Constituency 1, Anucha Musika in Constituency 2 and Thanasan Thammasorn in Constituency 3.
After the campaign, Mr Abhisit was due to travel to nearby Lamphun province to spend the night at Wat Nong Ngeuk in Pa Sang district.
Many local residents were delighted after hearing the Democrat leader would stay at the temple.
Mr Sathit yesterday said Mr Abhisit's campaign trail in the North met with obstacles from the red shirts.
He claimed some leading red shirt members had asked residents not to attend the Democrat leader's campaign rally in Chiang Mai's Hot district. This forced the campaign team to change the itinerary, said Mr Sathit.
Mr Abhisit and his team decided to campaign in Mae Rim district instead, where Democrat candidate Duentemduang na Chiang Mai is running in Chiang Mai's Constituency 7.
Before leaving for the North, Mr Abhisit campaigned in Bangkok's Silom business area, where he was warmly received by vendors, businesspeople and office employees.
Mr Abhisit led his team on a campaign in Soi Salaisap yesterday morning. He was accompanied by Apirak Kosayodhin, the Democrat Party's election director in Bangkok.