Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has told leaders of foreign countries that he is struggling to "preserve" Thai democracy.

In letters to a number of leaders, including US President George W Bush, he warned that Thailand faced an "undemocratic" threat.

Before writing to Bush, Thaksin sent letters to the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - as well as China, Japan and South Korea - to explain how his victory with 16.4 million votes in the April 2 election had turned into a political meltdown.

"In any democracy, this should be more than a convincing victory," Thaksin said in the letter seen by The Nation yesterday.

He blamed the three opposition parties that boycotted the election for the 9.1 million ballots ticked "no vote".

In the April 17 letter, Thaksin said his desire to preserve democracy and unify the country led him to decide to refrain from seeking the premiership in the next government, despite his electoral victory.

 "Foremost on my mind is the need to preserve Thailand's democratic tradition and national unity, which must come before our electoral victory," he said.

Thaksin wrote the letter several days after he decided to bow out, following massive street protests demanding that he quit politics to pave the way for political reform.

Thaksin told foreign leaders that he would make a decision on his political future only after political reforms were complete. "Until then, I shall continue to lead the [Thai Rak Thai Party] and carry out my duties as a member of Parliament," he said.

However, he changed his mind after the Constitution Court nullified the election. Thaksin took office again and wrote another letter to the US president on June 23.

In this letter, Thaksin accused his opponents of using various "extra-Constitu-tional tactics" to circumvent the will of the people.

"There has been a threat to democracy in Thailand since early this year," he wrote. "Key democratic institutions, such as elections and their observance of Constitutional limitation on government, have been repeatedly undermined by interests that depend on creating chaos and mounting street demonstrations in Bangkok as a means to acquire political power that they cannot gain through winning elections," he explained.

Bush replied to Thaksin on July 3, saying that free and open political systems can be unpredictable, but the Thai people are resilient and Thai democracy is strong.