Duke of York skips Thailand visit

Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, postponed his six-day trade visit to Thailand, according to The Bangkok Post. The royal diary, which list the engagements of the British royal family however, does not list any immediate engagements for Prince Andrew, nor does his own web site.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week publicized the itinerary of Andrew's visit, which was scheduled from 31st of August until the 5th of September. King Bhumibol had granted the Duke of York, who visited in 2006 as well, an audience gave him Royal Visitor status.

The Duke was also to have met Princess Sirindhorn on the 4th of September. The embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had invited the prince for a luncheon at Government House, which last week was taken over by protesters.

The decision follows Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's decision to impose a state of emergency after clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters left one person dead and dozens injured.

Samak Sundaravej gave no timeframe for how long the decree would stay in effect but said it would be over moderately quickly. "I did it to solve the problems of the country", Samak said in a televised news conference at a militaryheadquarters in Bangkok.

Jaturont Pakdeepanich, of the country's Tourism Development office, admitted he was concerned with Samak's decision to issue the emergency. "The state of emergency must have an impact on tourism", Jaturont said. "For sure, if I was a foreign tourist, I wouldn't come to Thailand." © GPD AP