Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is ‘smelling the breeze’ on the resort island of Samui, his first Songkran holiday with his family in more than two years in office.

In a brief interview with reporters before leaving Bangkok for Surat Thani province, the prime minister appeared optimistic for the 2011 Thai traditional new year after “the bewilderment of the past two years” when the violent rallies of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship in Bangkok stripped him of any happy time.

Read more: Bangkok Post