Thai PM fears instability if opposition wins vote

BANGKOK, June 14 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday Thailand's election was a tight race but his party could still win despite opinion polls showing it falling behind, and he predicted a new wave of political instability if the opposition formed the next government.

In an interview with Reuters, he acknowledged his party was slipping behind "slightly" ahead of the July 3 vote in the race against the opposition Puea Thai Party led by Yingluck Shinawatra, the 43-year-old sister of self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"It is still a very tight race. We have fallen behind slightly," he said.

Asked to elaborate on what he saw as the risks if the opposition prevailed, he said: "Ruining the rule of law, causing instability and therefore a loss of economic opportunity."

He said it was still possible that his Democrat Party could win as many as 200 of the available 500 seats, but that if it won less than the roughly 170 achieved in the last election in 2007, he would step down as party leader. (Reporting by Jason Szep, John Chalmers, Martin Petty and Vithoon Amorn; Editing by Alan Raybould)