THE NATION
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra might not make an appearance at the soccer match between Thai and Cambodian teams scheduled for next week, a red-shirt source said yesterday.
"It would not be good for the Yingluck government if Thaksin were cheered by thousands of red shirts at the Cambodian stadium," he told The Nation.
It would provide an opportunity for criticism from the opposition, the source said.
Kwanchai Praipana, a red-shirt leader, yesterday told supporters via his television programme to wait for confirmation that Thaksin would appear.
"Unless Thaksin joins the event, there is no need for so many of us to go there."
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai MP Weng Tojirakan yesterday said more than 10,000 red shirts would attend the friendly football match in Phnom Penh.
The Thai team will comprise red shirts-turned-Pheu Thai MPs and the Cambodian side will be represented by Cabinet members and ranking officials.
"The friendly match will signal the two countries have resumed good neighbourly ties," Weng said.
He said Thailand and Cambodia would not go back to bickering as they did under the Abhisit Vejjajiva government.
Weng said he could not confirm or deny whether the red shirts would meet with Thaksin since he did not know Thaksin's schedule in the Cambodian capital.
He was speaking after the Criminal Court approved his petition to travel to Cambodia on two separate trips tomorrow and again next Friday. In the first trip, he would be part of an advance team. The second trip would be to take part in the match.
Three other members of the advance team, Veera Musigapong, Natthawut Saikua and Yoswaris "Jeng Dokjik" Chuklom, had earlier obtained court permission to travel abroad. Weng's trip was delayed for a day because of incomplete documentation.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said the government would not seek to extradite fugitive Thaksin from Cambodia because of lack of a legal mandate.
"The extradition request for Thaksin is impossible," he said in reference to Thaksin's visit to Phnom Penh tomorrow.
Chalerm said the Democrat-led government had tried but failed to persuade the Cambodian government to send back Thaksin.
He said the existing extradition provisions did not apply to Thaksin's conviction and two-year jail term.
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