Defeated Thailand PM resigns
Thailand's prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has resigned as leader of the outgoing ruling party after its resounding defeat by the party considered a proxy for ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
Democrat Party spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks said today that Mr Abhisit was resigning with immediate effect but had no further comment.
Preliminary results from yesterday's poll show 44-year-old Yingluck Shinawatra's Pheu Thai party winning the majority it needs to form the next government.
If confirmed, the large mandate will likely boost Thailand's stability in the short term and reduce the chance of intervention by the coup-prone military five years after it ousted Ms Yingluck's fugitive brother-in-exile, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
