Thai election victor works on coalition

The Thai businessman, Thaksin Shinawatra, who won a landslide victory in Saturday's election, has said he hopes to form a three-party coalition government by Thursday.

Unofficial figures from the election give his Thai Rak Thai party an unprecedented two-hundred-and-fifty-five of the five-hundred seats in the lower house of parliament.

The financial markets have reacted positively, with the Thai stock market opening more than two percent higher.

But a BBC correspondent in Bangkok says Mr Thaksin's tenure as prime minister could be short-lived if the constitutional court upholds a ruling that he concealed some of his wealth, something which carries an automatic five-year ban from holding public office under new anti-corruption laws. Our correspondent adds, however, that throwing out a leader with such a strong mandate might also precipitate a serious political crisis.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service