Now, the 'Loei Model'

And now, it's the "Loei Model." It's supposed to be a local initiative in this northeastern province to encourage reconciliation at the local level.

A sort of a "town-hall meeting" tookplace here during the weekend at the Loei Rajabhat University where the provincial governor, Pornsak Jiaranai, chaired a discussion on "Trend Towards Reform for Thailand."

The most interesting aspect of the meeting was that both the "reds" and "yellows" were represented in the public seminar and local leaders at the provincial, district, tambon levels were all present.

Participants were at pains to stress that while they continued to respect the freedom of expression for all shades of the political scene, what they agreed upon was that they would not support the use of violence.

Loei is basically a "red" area, with four Pheau Thai MPs and one Bhumjaithai (pro-government)MP.

Some leading government people flew up to Loei to take part in this "reconciliation experiment" including PM's adviser Apirak Kosayothin, Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Polabutr and Deputy Govt Spokesman Supachai Jaisamut.

If the Loei Model project shows any positive sign, they plan to move on to Pai (Mae Hong Son) where a similar sort of activity has also taken place. And if the trend prevails, then election campaigns could take place without risk of violence.