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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Thailand states it has a free education program for 15 million students

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has hailed his successes over his two years in office, and says more is to come.

Mr Abhisit, who recounted his administration's record in a televised address from Government House yesterday, said he took office in December 2008 as Thailand was facing many economic, social and political problems.

Unemployment has dropped in the two years since from 878,000 to 343,000, he said.

The government has offered a 15- year free education programme for 12 million Thai students, while about 5.7 million elderly people and 800,000 disabled people now receive a 500 baht monthly allowance, he said.

Mr Abhisit said about 4 million farming families had benefitted from the government's farm product price guarantee.

The Democrat-led government has launched a scheme to help 450,000 people burdened by loan sharks. It has assigned state financial institutions to provide them with refinancing.

"During my two years in the job, I have never been lazy, even for one day, because I volunteered to solve the people's problems," he said.

The price of natural rubber has increased from 30 baht to 117 baht a kilogramme during his term.

The government has built about 3,000km of dust-free roads, renovated more than 3,000 schools and developed healthcare centres in 40,000 tambons.

Mr Abhisit said he wanted to improve security and return peace to Thai society next year.

He said three problems which still deserve urgent attention are drugs, corruption among government office holders and conflicts in society.

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