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KANTHARALAK (Thailand) - THAILAND'S prime minister, under pressure from military chiefs to resign, on Saturday flew to the Cambodian border to visit soldiers injured in deadly clashes between the two nations.
Mr Somchai Wongsawat visited a military hospital in eastern Ubon Ratchathani province, where one soldier remains critically ill following a gunfight with Cambodian troops on their disputed border on Wednesday.
'I am saddened that soldiers have been wounded so today I visited them,' Mr Somchai told reporters at the end of his trip.
'They are in good spirits and said that if they fully recover they will go back to carry out their duties.'
The premier later flew to neighbouring Si Sa Ket province, where the violence erupted near an ancient temple that left two Cambodian soldiers dead and seven Thai troops injured.
After being briefed by a military commander for 15 minutes, Mr Somchai said no time and place had yet been agreed for talks with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen but insisted a peaceful solution was possible.
'Thailand insists that we have to live in peaceful co-existence (with Cambodia). If there is any problem we will resolve it by negotiation, but our soldiers will protect our sovereignty,' Mr Somchai told reporters after the briefing.
Earlier, regional army spokesman Colonel Taweesak Boonrakchart said the atmosphere along the border was calm.
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a joint border patrol aimed at preventing a repeat of the deadly clashes near the Preah Vihear temple, but there has been no word on when they would start.
Meanwhile, on Friday Mr Somchai insisted that he would not resign, despite army chief Anupong Paojinda hinting that he should in a live television broadcast a day earlier.
Mr Somchai, who has been in the post just one month, has been under increasing pressure to quit and dissolve parliament after clashes between police and anti-government protesters on October 7 left two dead and nearly 500 injured.
The protesters claim the government is a puppet of ousted and exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whom they accuse of corruption and nepotism. -- AFP
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