Thai leader calls early election

BANGKOK -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called an election for April 2, three years early, as he launched a stunning counterattack yesterday against a rapidly growing campaign to oust him.

''I dissolved Parliament," he said after meeting with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who agreed to his request.

''I would like to return power to the people and ask them to choose again," Thaksin said later in a nationally televised speech. ''I am willing to accept the decision of the people, but I will never accept the decision of unelected individuals who claim to have the mandate from the people."

Election Commission chairman Wassana Permlarb said he had accepted the April 2 date proposed by Thaksin, who won in a landslide a year ago. Analysts said they expected him to win the election, but with a reduced majority.

Thaksin had held out the threat of an early vote in a speech to cheering farmers earlier yesterday, two days before opponents planned to bring 100,000 people onto the streets of Bangkok to increase pressure on him to resign.

''If you are sick of me, send me home," he told 3,000 farmers near Bangkok, emphasizing his considerable support in the countryside, where 70 percent of Thais live. ''But if you want to continue using me, vote for me and I will work for you."

Then he met with businessmen and government officials to propose a pay rise for civil servants and tax breaks for professionals, street hawkers, and office workers to undermine the campaign centered on Bangkok.

Analysts said such populist measures might only give more ammunition to critics, who have multiplied since his relatives sold Shin Corp, the telecommunications empire Thaksin founded, to a Singapore state firm for a tax-free $1.9 billion.

Also, some economists said, the government might not be able to afford the proposals.

Thaksin also won praise for taking the constitutional route rather than risk a brawl in the streets of a country with a long history of military coups. But Thaksin's announcement did not persuade his opponents to call off tomorrow's demonstration.

''We will certainly rally to confirm our demand to have the prime minister resign," said Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the People's Alliance for Democracy, which is running the campaign against Thaksin.

The latest group to join the campaign was the Dharma Army of Chamlong Srimuang, an ascetic former general who led a successful ''people power" revolt against a military government in 1992. He was Thaksin's first mentor.