Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appeared tearful yesterday when asked if she had anything to tell Bangkok residents as she continued leading the fight against one of the biggest floods to hit the capital.
Yingluck, blinking back tears, said: "I want people to know that I have good intention and willingness. I will not be disheartened."
When asked if she had been crying often since the floods hit crisis level, Yingluck insisted she had never become emotional. "Pictures [looking like I've been crying] published earlier were just taken from a different angle. I've never cried because in my position, I need to be strong," she said.
As the reporter continued, asking if the PM was smiling with tears in her eyes, Yingluck laughed.
She admitted that the flood situation in the capital had hit the crisis level.
"The government has been trying to fight against nature, the force of water, strengthening embankments and facing protesters. I ask the people to understand, because I don't want to have to use the law to control the masses,'' she said.
Yingluck added that moving the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) out of Don Mueang Airport would be the last resort even though the complex was plunged in darkness this morning after some generators short-circuited due to the flooding. "The generators will be fixed within the day. It was a minor issue. Taking care of people is my first priority," she said.
She added that once all the refugees had been moved out of the centre, she would consider moving operations out of Don Mueang. "I don't want to move out in a panic because the FROC system has not yet been set up," she said.
Asked if she feared public uprisings against FROC and her government in light of the difficulties they must brave through, Yingluck urged people to understand that the operations centre was set up in a hurry and had to deal with prevention and rehabilitation
"I understand that everybody, especially Pol General Pracha Promnok, who heads FROC, has hardly had any sleep," she said.
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