BANGKOK Thailand's external debt in February totaled $78.6 billion for a decline of $1.1 billion from the previous month, DPA quoted the Bank of Thailand as saying on Wednesday. "The values of external debt in both the private and public sectors were reduced as a result of debt repayment and the depreciation of the Japanese yen," said BOT spokesman Bandid Nijathaworn. In February, the public sector debt declined by $300 million, with $100 million of that sum attributed to the fall in the value of the Japanese yen to 117.34 to the dollar, compared with the month-earlier 116.38. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawtara said last month that the country's external debt amounted to 57.6 percent of gross domestic product. Thaksin, in his first televised message to the nation after becoming prime minister February 9, appealed to the public to join in solving Thailand's mounting economic problems, the greatest of which is the debt burden amassed since the financial crisis of 1997. After a de facto devaluation of the baht in July 1997, Thailand had to appeal to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $17.2 billion emergency bailout. Any bailout money taken has to be repaid. The government's takeover of bankrupt banks and financial companies increased its overall debt while corporate debts to foreign lender banks nearly doubled in baht terms because of the depreciation of the Thai currency. Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party gained power in the January 6 election with populist campaign promises aimed at reducing the economic plight of the poor. Many economists wonder where Thaksin's government will find the funding to back up his campaign promises, including 30 baht (67 cent) per visit fees for medical services for the poor and 1 million baht development funds for each of Thailand's 70,000 villages.