The Democrat Party yesterday called on caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to defuse what it termed "a political time bomb".

Party spokesman Ong-art Klampaiboon told a press conference at the Democrat headquarters that the ongoing political crisis was a time bomb that needed to be defused or it would explode and cause severe consequences.

He said Thaksin was one of the few people who could defuse the "bomb" and was in the best position to do so. The others were the election commissioners and Senate Speaker Suchon Chaleekrua, according to the Democrat spokesman.

"So far the prime minister has made no positive signals that he's going to defuse the bomb. He has to make a quick decision before it's too late," Ong-art said.

He said one thing Thaksin should do in "defusing the time bomb" was to keep his distance from the functioning of the EC and the Senate speaker.

The Democrat spokesman yesterday also asked the government to issue concrete and effective measures to help reduce the impact of rising oil prices on the economy.

He said the weakening global economy resulting from expensive petrol was taking its toll on Thai consumers as the prices of many products had been adjusted upwards.

The spokesman said the Democrats did not expect Thai exports to expand at the projected rate of 17.5 per cent this year. He suggested the government find new export markets for Thai products instead of relying on traditional markets.

Ong-art said the measures to be issued should not aim at winning political support as "populist policies" would lead to problems that the government needed to solve later.

At the same press briefing, Democrat deputy spokesman Yuttapong Charasathien urged the government to urgently address the drought problem facing five north-eastern rice-growing provinces - Maha Sarakham, Buri Ram, Surin, Roi Et and Yasothon.

He said although it was the rainy season in many parts of the country, the north-eastern provinces have faced drought over the past two months.

The spokesman said the party had obtained complaints from several farmers in the affected areas.