Bangkok  - Thais must be resilient going into what could be a very rough 2009, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday.

Workers should not engage in disruptive protests against their employers which "unwittingly exacerbate economic woes by undermining business confidence," he said after a meeting with Democrat Party chief advisor, former prime minister Chuan Leekpai.

Bangkok  - Thailand's Parliament on Monday selected Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the next prime minister, giving the 44-year-old Oxford-educated politician a slim majority to form the next government.

An extraordinary session of the lower house gave Abhisit a thin victory by a 235-198 vote over his rival, police General Pracha Promnok, the Puea Paendin Party leader. Three members abstained.