The people in southern Thailand are placing high hope on the new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to bring about changes especially in tackling terrorism which has been rampant in the province for the past five years.
A resident, Mariam Abdullah, 50, said she was hoping that the conflict in the province would be resolved by Abhisit, after efforts by the previous prime ministers had failed.
"The bloodshed has been going on too long. Murder happens almost everyday and it really affects the people," she told Bernama here today.
Abhisit, 44, the Democrat Party leader was made Thailand's 27th Prime Minister on Dec 15, after he won a parliamentary vote.
He is Thailand's fourth prime minister this year and the third in just four months.
The parliamentary vote was held almost two weeks after the Constitution Court's ruling on the People Power Party (PPP), which ended in its dissolution and came with a five-year ban on its executives from politics, forcing premier Somchai Wongsawat to step down with half his Cabinet.
The vote also came in the wake of mass protests by anti-Thaksin forces which included a weeklong siege of Bangkok's airports.
Mariam said that with the ongoing political crisis, the people in the country risked their lives to do their daily chores as traders or rubber tappers.
Meanwhile, Arifin Daud, 48, who owns a business here, said the only thing that he wished for was for peace to be restored in the province.
"Ever since the conflict broke out, all of the previous prime ministers seemed to have failed to solve the problem. So, it is our hope that Abhisit could change the situation. He is still very young, so he must have many new ideas," he said.
Bernama checks on the town found that although the people are kept busy with their daily chores, the pace is not as hectic as before due to the rampant bombings and terrorism incidents.
