He is the youngest prime minister Thailand has had for more than 60 years, and perhaps the most articulate and telegenic.

He is untainted by corruption or conflicts of interest, which is almost unheard of in Thai politics, especially for someone who has been in parliament for 16 years.

Abhisit Vejjajiva's strengths are well known in Thailand. He will need them all, and a lot more. It is hard to imagine a prime minister starting a term of office in less favourable conditions.

His first and most difficult challenge is calming the intense political atmosphere that has seen the country bitterly divided between supporters and opponents of the exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

It is all the harder for Mr Abhisit, as his party has allowed itself to become closely associated with the hard-core People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), whose campaign of economic sabotage, culminating in last month's week-long occupation of Bangkok International Airport, helped bring down the previous government.