the House in a relatively free election. The day after the election, Thaksin said he would "work harder and faster to implement policies and resolve the country's problems." He said the government would "quickly boost Thailand's competitiveness in the international market, and would also look into improving religious affairs issues." This was taken as a reference to the situation in the south of the country, which has a large Muslim population, where there has been a history of unrest and disturbances, and where Thaksin's party won only one seat. The Nation newspaper reported: "Many voters [in the south] said they had lost faith in Thaksin, who has refused to apologise for incidents such as the deaths of 78 Muslims in October who were held in military custody after being arrested for protesting in the village of Tak Bai." Results by province References "Rivals battle to end Thaksin era," Bangkok Post, 6 January 2005 Veera Prateepchaikul, "Thaksin is swept along by the tsunami," ''Bangkok Post, 10 January 2005 Literature External links Elections under Thaksin - a rural perspective Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker The Nation's guide to the general election Realtime vote-counting report News about Thailand's 2005 General Election Why Thaksin succeeds Elections in Thailand Thailand General General