Thailand's Prime Minister visit

Photo of Prime Mister (wikipedia.com)

The Prime Minister getting out of the car

Big news for Surin last weekend when the Prime Minister came to visit.  Sunday July 29th she visited for a cabinet meeting.  The city was so excited there was a huge welcome parade for her.  The people of Surin waited hours in the hot sun for her arrival.  She finally did arrive by helicopter at around 6pm.  It was exciting being involved in all the city's excitement.

The prime minister giving a short speech

A little about the Thai Prime Minister.  Her name is Yingluck Shinawatra and she is female.  She went to Kentucky State University and graduated with an MPH in 1991.  She came into power on May 17th, 2011 after being selected by the  the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai Party.  She is the 28th Prime Minister of Thailand and the first ever female.  There is some controversy to her position as she is the sister of the of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was overthrown in a military coup in 2006.  He is now in self-imposed exile and was convicted of abusing his power.

The crowd awaiting Yingluck Shinawatra's arrival

The main theme of her campaigning was reconciliation after the political turmoil from 2008-2010 where hundreds of protesters died.  Her policies involve decreases corporate income tax from 30% to 20% by 2013.  She also intends to raise the minimum wage to 300 baht ($10) per day and the minimum wage for university graduates to 15,000 baht ($500) per month.  She plans to provide free public wireless and a tablet PC to every child in school.

The crowd building

Here are some photos from her arrival in Surin and the parade that I took.

Sitting in the sun at this point waiting for an unknown event.

Beginning of the parade.  The first flag is Thailand's the second yellow flag is the king's flag and the third blue flag is the queen's flag.

Thai musicians and dancer entertaining the crowd.

Thai Dancers

Grasshopper dancers

Beautiful Thai women with skin made white.

Thai rice farmers

Large candle float

Fabric covered elephant float

Praying to Buddha float

Larege group of Thai dancers to finish the parade