Special report: Crisis in Thailand

    BANGKOK, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has prolonged his trip abroad by two days and will return home till Monday, although some Thai Rak Thaiparty members have urged him to come back for possible new elections.

    Thaksin, who left here on April 24 for personal visits to London, Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong, was earlier scheduled to arrive in Bangkok in mid-day Saturday.

    It is still unknown whether Thaksin will continue his journey to the Philippines.

    Sources said Banharn Silpa-archa, leader of Chart Thai party, and his family members are also currently staying in Hong Kong. They are scheduled to return to Thailand on Sunday.

    Thaksin has announced early this month that he would not accept the premiership of the new government even though his party won the April 2 general election, saying he wanted to end the political crisis after weeks of rallies by his opponents in the capital.

    The 56-year-old billionaire and former telecom tycoon said he would carry on as caretaker until a successor was chosen, and would remain a member of Thai Rak Thai Party.

    Thailand has held three elections since early April, but the third round of balloting scheduled for this Saturday to fill 14 vacant seats in the Lower House has been suspended by the Administrative Court pending its deliberations over whether to nullify the inconclusive April 2 elections.

    The announcement came just hours after an unprecedented judicial summit of chief judges from Thailand's three top courts to find a solution to the current political stalemate.

    As a new round of elections may be held in the near future, some Thai Rak Thai members and Thaksin's supporters said Thaksin should contest in the new election as everything has come back to the ground. Enditem