Thaksin not in Cambodia: [Thaksin's old pal] Hun Sen

The old chums: Thaksin, Hun Sen, Chea Sim (Photo: Reuters)

7/02/2009
BangkokPost.com

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra is not in Cambodia's Koh Kong as reported by Thai media.

The statement came as Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan visits Hun Sen in Phnom Penh.

According to reports, Hun Sen also affirmed Gen Prawit that he will attend the 14th Asean summit to be held in Thailand later this month.

Puea Thai MPs will travel to Cambodia's Koh Kong to meet with Thaksin

Spokesman defends Thaksin on entry ban

6/02/2009
BangkokPost.com

Spokesman of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Pongthep Thepkanchana, downplayed reports that Thaksin is banned from entering Japan and is barred from undertaking political activities in China, saying he has not been informed about them.

News about Japan's entry ban on Thaksin broke out Thursday, when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he had learned about it but had not made inquiries with the Japanese authorities.

Thepthai Senpong, Mr Abhisit's personal spokesperson, also said Washington and Beijing are also not happy welcoming the convicted former premier if he wishes to use their countries for political activities.

Mr Pongthep said Puea Thai MPs will travel to Cambodia's Koh Kong to meet with Thaksin and ask for his political advice in the coming weeks.

Thaksin banned from entering Japan : PM [-You Ay denies Thaksin's travel to Cambodia]

Fri, February 6, 2009
The Nation

Cambodian ambassador denies Pheu Thai MPs to visit ex-PM in Koh Kong

Japan has banned ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra from entering the country because he is a fugitive from justice, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

Abhisit confirmed this was the case when asked to comment by reporters before embarking on a three-day official visit to Japan.

Under Japanese immigration law, any person with a criminal conviction will not be allowed to enter the country.

Thaksin's status in Japan had not been questioned in recent months because he had not sought to visit the country since a Thai court's decision last October to sentence him to two years in jail in relation to the Ratchadaphisek land case.

The previous year, he had maintained a high profile in Tokyo as a guest lecturer at Takushoku University.

The British government was the first to revoke his visa followed the court's ruling.

Other countries have different visa regulations regarding persons with criminal records. Neither the United States nor China has revoked Thaksin's visa.

According to an informed source, in the case of the US, Thaksin can still enter the country because the US does not have the same restrictions as the UK immigration authorities. However, after the expiration of his US visa, Thaksin will encounter difficulties in getting it renewed, the source said.

When his diplomatic passport was revoked at the end of last year, Thaksin was unable to enter China without a visa. However, with his ordinary passport - the future of which the Foreign Ministry has yet to decide upon - he can apply to visit China, where he has vast business interests and links with influential people.

Thaksin has been on the run since October, having popped up in various countries ranging from Dubai to Hong Kong. He has kept his hiding places secret whenever he phoned in to gatherings of his supporters in Bangkok.

So long as Thaksin is on the run and subject to a Thai court's ruling, he will face difficulties in renewing the visas that he currently has, according to a senior Foreign Ministry official.

Meanwhile, You Ay, the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand, yesterday issued a statement dismissing a news report that a group of Pheu Thai MPs was planning to meet Thaksin in Cambodia's Koh Kong province.

"With reference to the article titled 'Pheu Thai MPs may meet Thaksin in Koh Kong', which was published [in The Nation], I have the honour to inform you that the Royal Embassy of Cambodia has no information at all about the visit of Thaksin in Cambodia," said the ambassador.

Paijit Srivorakhan, the Pheu Thai MP for the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom, said party MPs would likely meet Thaksin in Hong Kong by the end of the month to inform the former prime minister of the political situation in northestern Thailand following the defection of a major faction led by Newin Chidchob.

[Thai] PM urges Opposition, ousted premier Thaksin, not to create trouble

BANGKOK, Feb 5 (TNA) - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Thursday urged members of the Opposition Puea Thai Party and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to think of the country first and not to create more divisions in Thai society.

Commenting on reports that some 30 members of the Puea Thai Party will meet with Mr. Thaksin, Thailand's ousted and convicted former premier, Mr. Abhisit said the meeting of Opposition party members and the ex-premier was made regularly, but saw no problem.

However, he firmly advised those who would meet the ex-premier that the country's citizens want to see peace and a community response to solving problems rather than playing politics, said Mr. Abhisit.

Asked if the government would seek the extradition of Mr. Thaksin and put him on trial for the pending cases in Thailand, Mr. Abhisit said it is not easy to ask for cooperation from foreign countries because Mr. Thaksin is a man in motion who keeps travelling and has no fixed address.

He said Mr. Thaksin should return to Thailand and defend himself in court.

Ex-premier Thaksin is believed to travel to Cambodia frequently, he said, but that is not a problem because no countries which are friendly with Thailand would allow him to use their soil as a springboard for launching political activities against this country, he said.

Mr. Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless military coup in September 2006. He fled the country in August before being sentenced last October to two years in jail for abuse of power in a Bangkok land purchase deal.

[Thai] PM ignores ex-[Thai] PM visit to Cambodia

5/02/2009
BangkokPost.com

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Thursday discounted the news about exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's plan to visit Cambodia to meet the opposition Puea Thai party MPs.

According to Mr Abhisit, Mr Thaksin had been travelling frequently, adding he can come back to Thailand and no one will stop him. He said the government also wants him to return.

In addition, the premier said he was informed that Japan will not allow Mr Thaksin to enter because he is a convict.

During Mr Abhisit's visit to Japan from Thursday to Saturday, he will enter talks with Japanese leaders and businessmen to restore their confidence to Thailand and to promote tourism and investment after the political situation has improved.