Bangkok: Thailand's political crisis took an unexpected turn Monday when Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she would dissolve the lower house of Parliament and call early elections.
The move appeared to be an attempt to ease tension after weeks of sometimes violent anti-government demonstrations. The country has experienced years of alternating street protests between supporters and opponents of Yingluck's older brother, ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who remains a key figure in Thai politics even though he is in self-imposed exile in Dubai.