The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday:
Thailand’s government has been pushing for a top-level dialog for months to find a way out of its deep-seated conflicts, and grandees such as former British premier Tony Blair and Finland’s former leader Martti Ahtisaari converged in Bangkok Monday for an independently run talk-fest on how the country can move forward.
But there’s a problem.
So far, Thailand’s opposition parties have refused to participate in reconciliation talks, going as far as to accuse Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government of paying Mr. Blair 20 million baht, or $640,000, for his appearance fee at Monday’s forum – an allegation that both the government and Mr. Blair denied.
There’s more today from the Bangkok Post.