11.21 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Thai PM leaves hospital

Published
By AFP

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left a Bangkok hospital on Wednesday after an overnight stay to recover from food poisoning, her government said.

The premier was discharged at noon and told reporters outside the hospital that she was feeling "a bit better" and would head directly to the airport for a scheduled trip to Vietnam, which she said she did not want to postpone.

"I still have to take medicine (but) I can still go to Vietnam despite being slightly tired," the immaculately-attired premier said, adding she had managed to eat a light meal in the hospital.

Yingluck is due in Vietnam for bilateral talks on trade, investment and tourism -- including a proposal for a single tourist visa for South East Asian countries, her aides said.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul will accompany Yingluck on the trip but the premier will return this evening and will likely skip an official banquet after the talks, according to government spokeswoman Titima Chaisang.

The trip will be Yingluck's first visit as premier to Vietnam, and her sixth official visit to an ASEAN country.

"I will get straight back to work when I return from Vietnam tonight," Yingluck told reporters, adding that she did not know what had caused the food poisoning.

Yingluck, who has been grappling with a months-long flood crisis, was hospitalised in the early hours of Tuesday morning with diarrhoea, fatigue, abdominal pain and nausea.

She was given oral dehydration salts and ordered to rest, the hospital said Tuesday.

The 44-year-old leader, the younger sister of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was a political novice before taking office in August and has struggled to get a grip on Thailand's worst floods in half a century.

The government has faced criticism for its slow response and confusing public advice about the disaster, which has left more than 600 people dead.

At times the mother-of-one has showed signs of strain, appearing teary-eyed at news conferences and describing the crisis as overwhelming, while her political enemies have sought to use the occasion to undermine her popularity.

Her 62-year-old brother Thaksin remains a deeply divisive figure in Thailand. The former telecoms tycoon was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives abroad to avoid a two-year jail sentence for corruption.