Two bomb suspects escape to Cambodia: police

SA KAEO, June 27 (TNA) -- Two suspects in last week’s bomb attack at the head office of Bhumjaithai Party, a major partner in the coalition government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, have fled to Cambodia, a senior Thai immigration police officer said Sunday.

Pol Lt-Col Benjapol Rodsawas, deputy immigration police chief in the Thai border province of Sa Kaeo, said 42-year-old Varisriya Boonsom, nicknamed Oor, and 41-year-old Korbchai Boonplod, nicknamed Ai, left the country separately last Wednesday, one day after the bombing incident outside the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters on Phaholyothin Road in Bangkok.

Both of them left for Cambodia via the Thai border district of Aranyaprathet, said Col Benjapol.

The Thai Criminal Court last Friday issued arrest warrants for four more suspects, including Mrs Varissriya and Mr Korbchai, alleged to be involved in the bombing incident.

Police allege they planned the attack together.

To date, police have detained three suspects, including Anek Singkhuntod who was seriously wounded in the rambutan pushcart explosion near the Party headquarters. He is being treated in hospital.

As police continue their investigation, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday he had ordered police to find the culprits.

Mr Abhisit said there are still some elements who want to create disturbances in the country while his government is giving an effort to prevent them.

“In practice, it [prevention] cannot be covered 100 per cent but the government will try its best,” Mr Abhisit said.

Thepthai Senpong, spokesman of ruling Democrat Party leader Abhisit, said his party had received intelligence that the party could be the next bombing target.

Democrat Party headquarters was earlier fired on by an assailant using an M79 grenade launcher.

Mr Thepthai said the prime minister in his capacity as the party leader had instructed the authorities to be on alert as another attack could hit the party.

Phnom Penh denies Thai red shirts trained for unrest in Cambodia

Wed, 02 Jun 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government on Wednesday rejected claims carried by a Thai television station that Thai opposition supporters crossed into western Cambodia and were trained in fomenting unrest.

A government spokesman said Cambodia followed a policy of peaceful co-existence with all nations, and would not interfere in another country's internal affairs.

ASTV on Monday carried a report in which a Thai military commander claimed that red shirts had crossed into Oddar Meanchey province, where they were trained in techniques to stir up social unrest.

The Thai commander, identified by the Cambodian government as Vivalit Chhonsomrit, then alleged that the training was a step towards declaring that north-eastern Thailand was under opposition control.

The Cambodian government said foreign military bases were not permitted on its territory, and called on the Thai media to refrain from distributing "baseless information, which would mislead national and international opinion."

The two-month showdown between anti-government protestors and the Thai government left at least 88 people dead and hundreds injured in Bangkok. Troops finally dispersed the demonstrators on May 19, sparking off rioting that destroyed numerous buildings in the capital.

Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who has close ties to the protest movement, is an ally of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Thaksin's appointment last year as an adviser to the Cambodian government sparked a diplomatic rift between the two nations that has still not healed.

Thailand to circulate arrest warrant to 187 countries to capture ex-PM

Wed, Jun 02, 2010
The Nation/Asia News Network

In another attempt to bring Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to justice, the Department of Special Investigation will circulate copies of his arrest warrant on terrorism charges around the world.

The DSI's foreign division will give copies of the warrant to 187 Interpol member countries asking them to help capture Thaksin, DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said.

The DSI will also ask the Office of the Attorney-General to proceed with extradition requests to countries in which Thaksin has been living since his self-imposed exile.

The Foreign Ministry will also circulate the documents through diplomatic channels.

So far, the government has failed to have Thaksin extradited from a number of countries, including Cambodia.

Thaksin apparently has a residence in Dubai and holds Montenegrin citizenship, but both countries have ignored Thai requests to take him into custody.

Meanwhile, a lower court earlier approved arrest warrants for 13 men for their alleged torching of the Maleenont Building, which houses Channel 3, on May 19.

The suspects, aged 30-50, were seen in media and security footage taking part in the arson attack but not identified by name.

Thonglor police said they were verifying the men by their appearance in previous criminal records. Most are seen in the footage armed with clubs and sticks and carrying out acts of attacks and arson.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau yesterday released a report on more than 360 violent incidents related to the red-shirt rally, including 160 violations of the emergency decree.

The cases occurred across Bangkok. Of the total, 140 were reported in the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Region 1.

Offences classified under the criminal category include 62 bomb attacks, 54 of which are still being investigated. Two arrest warrants have been issued, and six suspects are in police custody.

There are 39 cases of arson and of torching property, with investigations in progress for 36 of them. Two arrest warrants are outstanding, and one suspect has been arrested.

There are 18 cases of manslaughter and attempted murder. Police are investigating 17 cases and are in the process of requesting judicial approval for an arrest warrant.

Police are working on two cases relating to physical assault.

There are 34 cases of stealing, looting and armed robbery, 12 of which are under investigation. Police have rounded up suspects involved in 21 of them and are preparing an arrest warrant in another.

For national-security-related investigations, there are seven cases of lese majeste. Two are in progress, while two arrest warrants have been issued, and three suspects are in police custody.

Some 160 cases are related to offences committed under the state of emergency. Suspects are under custody for violating the emergency decree.

The remaining cases involve the illegal possession of military supplies. One case is in progress. Two arrest warrants have been issued, and one case has been solved, with suspects in police custody.

Regarding people killed in the mayhem, police investigations are under way, with 37 autopsy reports completed.

Red shirts threaten to 'disarm' soldiers

Monday, March 22, 2010
The Nation

Weng Tojitrakarn, a red-shirt leader, Monday mobilized 1,000 female soldiers to search military tents around the Phan Fah rally site to check whether the deployed soldiers are carrying weapons.

Weng Tojitrakarn announced on the stage at 9 am that he would send 1,000 red-shirt women to check the military tents.

If any military tent refuses the red-shirt female volunteers to go inside and check for weapons, the red-shirt movement would put up a sign saying "this military unit is armed with intention to kill innocent people".

Earlier the day, a red-shirt leader announced that the red-shirt people would search the military tents and would disarm the soldiers and turn them over to police.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Bangkokians

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

[Thai Red Shirts] Blood rites spark off holy row

We don’t use blood in our Brahmin rites - PHRA RATCHAKRU WAMADHEPMUNI

Ritual splashings lead royal Brahmin to take aim at the red shirts' priest

18/03/2010
Anucha Charoenpo and Aekarach Sattaburuth
Bangkok Post

The blood splashing ceremonies conducted by the red shirts are already proving inauspicious after two Brahmin priests exchanged criticisms.

Rites conducted during the red shirts' blood pourings were not carried out according to correct Brahmin teachings and principles, the head of Thailand's royal Brahmin priests claimed yesterday.

Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni said the rites normally performed by Brahmin priests would help to promote the happiness of people at various stages of their lives.

Priests were invited to perform rites when people wanted their blessing on auspicious occasions such as weddings, merit-making for a new house, when there is a newborn or they are building a spirit house. That was not what the red shirts' priest did.

"We don't use blood in our Brahmin rites," Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni said.

The leader of the country's royal Brahmin priests asked the red shirts not to again donate their blood for such political activities. If they want to donate blood, it should be given to help those who actually need it, he said.

Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni said he was worried about the effect of the bloodletting on children as he feared those watching the rites on television would misunderstand the real principles and teachings of Brahminism. Their parents were duty-bound to explain these ideas to them properly.

The red shirts yesterday followed up their blood splashing at Government House and the Democrat Party's headquarters on Tuesday by throwing blood at the Bangkok home of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

During the events at Government House and the Democrat headquarters, the red shirts used a Brahmin priest to perform what he described as rites to curse the government and the prime minister.

The priest, identified as Sakrapee Promchart, said he was the son of a former royal Brahmin priest who conducted prayers and prepared ceremonies and offerings for the royal family for decades.

But Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni said Mr Sakrapee's father was dismissed 20 years ago from royal service because he did not behave properly as a royal Brahmin priest at the Dhevasathan Brahmin Shrine near the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration offices.

The shrine, the headquarters of a group of 15 royal Brahmin priests, was built during the reign of King Rama I for holding Brahmin rituals and ceremonies.

Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni said Mr Sakrapee could not be considered a proper Brahmin priest because his actions during the blood splashing were inappropriate.

The priest put his blood-stained feet up against the entrances of Government House and the Democrat Party headquarters and he used only one incense stick during his prayers, which signifies paying respect to the dead.

Mr Sakrapee brushed off Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni's comments, insisting he was a real Brahmin by descent.

He said Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni did not know the exact details of his father because when his father served as a royal Brahmin priest, Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni was a young student.

He said his father was a friend of Phra Ratchakru Wamadhepmuni's father when they served together as Brahmin priests 20 years ago.

"Being a Brahmin requires ancestry, so I'm definitely a Brahmin," Mr Sakrapee said.

"My father, now 100 years old, resigned as a Brahmin priest in the royal service, but he is still a Brahmin, and so am I. I'm not a royal Brahmin, but I'm a real Brahmin priest."

He agreed the blood rites performed on Tuesday were part of an inauspicious ceremony which would adversely affect not only the people targeted but also himself.

"It's right that such an inauspicious rite could not be performed by royal Brahmins, but I'm not a royal Brahmin priest," he said.

He said he agreed to bear any ill effects from the ceremony because it was done in the country's interest.

Plots seen in Thaksin's Cambodia gambit

Nov 12, 2009
By Shawn W Crispin
Asia Times Online

BANGKOK - At the Angkor Golf Club in Siem Riep, Cambodia, a portrait hangs on the wall to commemorate a visit in April this year of exiled former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The portrait's date seems to indicate that around the time Thaksin was on the links, across the border his politically aligned red-shirted protest movement was stirring chaos and unrest on the streets of Bangkok.

Before his open arrival in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, Thaksin and his aides denied that the former Thai leader had ever traveled to Cambodia since fleeing a criminal corruption conviction in August 2008. But the portrait raises new questions about whether he was in neighboring Cambodia, rather than Dubai, when in April this year he called on 100,000 of his United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) street protestors to rise up in a "people's revolution" to overthrow the Thai government.

Cambodia is now a more open participant in Thailand's political impasse, adding a new and potentially volatile regional dimension to the spiraling conflict. One Bangkok-based diplomat says it was an "open secret" that Thaksin had traveled to Cambodia since fleeing into exile last year. But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made clear his position when he last month offered Thaksin an economic advisory position in his government and asserted that he would decline any Thai request for his arrest and extradition.

The two sides have since downgraded diplomatic relations by recalling their respective ambassadors, intensifying an ongoing war of words highlighted by Hun Sen giving "shoot-to-kill" orders to his troops against any Thai incursions on Cambodian soil and Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya last year referring to the Cambodian strongman leader as a "gangster". Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has taken a more measured public response, but in private meetings he has reacted furiously to Hun Sen's provocations, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Beyond the verbal salvos, Thailand has said it will scrap a 2001 memorandum of understanding (MOU) governing the two countries' overlapping claims to an oil and gas field in the Gulf of Thailand and intimated earlier it would consider closing down trade along their 800 kilometer shared and in many areas contested border. Those competing border claims have so far centered on territory surrounding the Preah Vihear temple, where the two sides have in the past year and a half deployed troops and exchanged fire.

Subtle sabers

There are no indications yet that either side is bolstering its border troop deployments, but there have been hints of subtler saber-rattling. In a recent show of force, Hun Sen last month organized a parade of his personal bodyguard unit that displayed military arms and equipment that could be used to counter Thailand's United States-made F-16 jet fighters. In earlier skirmishes around Preah Vihear, Thailand has flown its F-16s provocatively low in a demonstration of its air superiority, a tactic the Thai military has similarly deployed in skirmishes with neighboring Myanmar.

It was lost on few security analysts that nearly all the hardware Hun Sen showed was produced in China, including tanks and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) apparently modeled after US Stinger missiles. Meanwhile, Thai army commander General Anupong Paochinda strengthened his command in a potential conflict through a mini reshuffle that promoted allies from the elite Queen's Guard to the 2nd Infantry Division, which oversees security along the Thai-Cambodian border.

The Thai military has since threatened vaguely to "respond" if Thaksin uses Cambodia as a base to foment instability in Thailand. Some analysts wonder whether Thailand might bid to escalate the situation by flexing its naval superiority and sending frigates to secure its maritime claim to the contested oil and gas field. Cambodian officials have said Thaksin's visit will focus on economics and not politics. Thaksin has said that he intends to continue living in Dubai, despite Hun Sen's offer of a refurbished luxury villa for him to take up residence in the Cambodian capital.

The offer follows on the safe house Hun Sen has made available to UDD co-leader Jakrapob Penkair, who fled into exile after the April uprising and crackdown, and Thaksin ally, Yongyuth Tiyapairat, who was detained in the wake of the 2006 military coup and convicted last year on electoral fraud charges that dissolved the Thaksin-aligned People's Power party, according to UDD international spokesman, Sean Boonpracong. UDD representatives have also recently made a request to the Lao government for access to a Vientiane-based safe house for its members, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Before going into exile, Jakrapob told this correspondent that the UDD had clandestinely moved small arms from Cambodia to Thaksin's supporters in Thailand's northeastern region, where the exiled premier's popularity runs strongest. He told other news agencies that the UDD was willing to launch an "armed struggle" to achieve its goals, which included the toppling of the government and restoration of Thaksin's power.

Diplomats monitoring the situation have not been able to corroborate the claim, and other UDD leaders have since April backed away from invoking revolutionary themes. But Thai military planners now believe that Hun Sen, a former military commander, is working in cahoots with Thaksin to bring down Abhisit's government. One scenario making the rounds sees the UDD opening two fronts of unrest: one through mass demonstrations and possible bombings in Bangkok and another against government installments in Thailand's northeastern provinces that abut on Cambodia.

Popular response

Earlier, Abhisit had sought to keep a diplomatic lid on escalating tensions, but with the surge in opinion polls he enjoyed after downgrading bilateral relations he now arguably has political motivation in maintaining, if not ramping, tensions with Cambodia until elections are held next year. Abhisit's popularity nearly tripled last week, from 23.6% in September to 68.6%, according to a local ABAC poll. The surge in his approval ratings saw significant rises in the northern and northeastern regions where the Thaksin-aligned Peua Thai party holds sway.

The Democrats had earlier planned to hold elections coinciding with an expected strong economic upturn towards the middle of next year, but some analysts now wonder whether they will move that timetable forward in view of their recent gains in popularity over Thaksin's Cambodia gambit. The Democrats had, before downgrading Cambodian relations started planning for new polls, including a division of labor at the Prime Minister's Office with units dedicated separately to strategy, communications and administration, according to a diplomatic source familiar with the situation.

Maintaining strong pressure on Cambodia could also win back ground lost to the upstart New Politics Party (NPP), which recently formed from the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement and has appealed aggressively to notions of Thai nationalism vis-a-vis Cambodia. While in the political opposition, the Democrats were viewed as in cahoots with the PAD, but since the Democrats have taken power the two sides have fallen out, as the newly formed NPP is expected to compete for votes in areas the Democrats consider their strongholds.

The Thai army and its allied conservative interests also arguably have an interest in escalating the situation, including a possible tilt towards armed skirmishes, where they could portray any Thai casualties in seditious terms as being motivated by Thaksin's ties to Cambodia.

Heightened tensions would also provide a stronger strategic raison d'etre to expedite the establishment of a new 20 billion baht (US$600 million), northeastern region-situated 3rd Cavalry Division, military spending which was recently approved in principle over a 10-year horizon.

That budgetary outlay does not include earmarks for big-ticket armored personnel carrier and tank procurements to equip the new installation. Ever since Thai forces clashed in both 1980 and 1985 with Vietnamese troops, who entered Thai territory after invading and occupying Cambodia, Thai military planners have feared a possible land invasion from the east through a mountain pass at its eastern Sa Kaew province, from where it has been predicted that an invading tank force could reach the Thai capital in 48 hours.

Military motivations

While security analysts say such a scenario is wholly unlikely, the Thai military could nonetheless use heightened tensions with Cambodia and the threat of a Thaksin-led, Cambodia-backed insurrection in the northeast as justification for procuring expensive new tanks to replace its aging and in places failing fleet. (One security analyst with top military connections claims that Thailand's UK-made Scorpion light tanks in exercises often get caught in the mud and tend to steer better towards the left than right.)

Other analysts believe that Thai military leaders will shy from confronting Cambodia as their armed forces are already overstretched with counter-insurgency operations in the country's southernmost region and maintaining security in Bangkok against another possible UDD uprising. The same analysts believe that the military is loathe to move any of its elite forces away from Bangkok to the Cambodian border over security concerns surrounding the royal succession. The 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been hospitalized since September 19 and some royalists believe the UDD may through demonstrations bid to complicate the eventual transition to heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn.

There is a wider consensus among diplomats and analysts that Thaksin's Cambodia gambit, despite his sustained populist appeals to Thailand's rural poor, could hurt his Peua Thai party's chances at the next elections. Some believe that Thaksin is the victim of bad advice from newly appointed Peua Thai party chairman, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who after a personal visit to Cambodia last month was the first to announce Hun Sen's offer to grant Thaksin political sanctuary and a job in his government.

That follows on the negative popular response to the UDD's ramped up protests in April, which were the brainchild of Thaksin's advisor Jakrapob and similarly resulted in a surge in popularity for the Democrats. As Thaksin bids to strengthen his hand vis-a-vis the government through external threats, he may have miscalculated the impact it would have on his presumed loyal home base.

Shawn W Crispin is Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia Editor. He may be reached at swcrispin@atimes.com.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Shadow Theater

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

‘Democrazy’ fever brings troubles to polarised Thailand

Saturday October 25, 2008
By PHILIP GOLINGAI
The Star (Malaysia)

THAI TAKES

These days, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra is being blamed for everything that is wrong with Thailand.

TWO Sundays ago, a naked 40-year-old radio DJ rambled near a market in Sattahip, about 30km from Pattaya, repeatedly shouting “I’m dying.”

Lately, according to his colleague, Montree Jitwimolprasert has been behaving weirdly and often using improper words while hosting his radio programme.

“He told everyone that he hates the colour red. He hates red clothes,” Suraswadi Prasarnnil, who is Mon­tree’s superior, told the Bangkok Post.

She added that the DJ acted weirdly after witnessing the violent street battle between police and yellow-clad People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Bangkok on Oct 7 that saw two Thais killed.

“He talked about a bloodbath and how his fellow protesters were hurt. He told us that he saw blood and people losing their limbs,” Suraswadi related.

It looks like Montree has a bad case of the “yellow fever”.

In polarised Thailand, the colour “yellow” symbolises the PAD (an anti-government movement that sees red in anything connected to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai premier who was ousted in a 2006 coup) while “red” represents the pro-government supporters.

The PAD crowd has a jaundiced opinion of Thaksin, blaming him for anything negative that happens to them or their country.

For instance, they claim Thaksin was behind the gun battle between Thailand and Cambodia along their disputed border that killed one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers on Oct 15.

However, Thai army chief General Anupong Phaochinda described such claim as “unfathomable”.

Thaksin is even blamed for the most unfathomable matter.

Take the example of my 30-something Thai friend who is such a die-hard PAD member that he packs a truncheon to an anti-government event just in case there’s an attack from the police or the pro-government supporters.

The other day his newborn baby had a very, very mild case of jaundice and guess who he blamed? Thaksin.

“I blame Thaksin for everything bad,” he said, as a matter of fact.

Although the PAD declared victory after the Supreme Court on Oct 21 sentenced Thaksin, who is in self-exile in London, to two year’s in prison for corruption, it would not end its protest.

It will continue its illegal occupation of Government House (the Thai prime minister’s office) until it ousts the People Power Party-led coalition government, which is pro-Thaksin.

Salang Bunnag, a former deputy police chief, has vowed to evict the PAD from Government House which it has besieged since Aug 26.

His game plan is to seal off the prime minister’s compound with 1,000 retired policemen (to do the job that the police could not) and cut off food and water supply to the protesters for three days.

“I’ve tried my best to avoid doing this. If asked to choose between the country and morality, I will choose the country. If I go to hell for doing this, so be it,” he was reported as saying.

Guess who the PAD is blaming for Salang’s plan to retake Government House? Thaksin.

“I do not believe Salang is planning the (retake) for his own purposes; somebody is no doubt pulling strings behind the scenes. Whether it is the prime minister or ex-prime minister Thaksin Shina­watra I would not know,” PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila told The Nation.

Salang is not the only anti-PAD supporter who has gone public with his strategy on how to counter any move to overthrow the government of prime minister Somchai Wongsa­wat.

In case of a coup (which is highly likely after army chief Anupong went on television on Oct 16 to urge Somchai to resign), army major-general Khattiya Sawasdiphol vowed to welcome tanks with Molotov cocktails instead of roses that were offered to the soldiers after they deposed Thaksin without any bloodshed.

“The use of Molotov cocktails against tanks has been practised widely, but never in Thailand,” Khattiya told The Nation.

“This will be the first and only time that the people have threatened a counter-coup, if tanks roam Bangkok streets. Tanks usually used in military coups, attached to the Fourth Cavalry Battalion, are old and vulnerable to catching fire.”

In discussions with Thais on why DJ Montree acted weirdly, the anti-PAD crowd said it was an indication that in Thailand, the second “c” in “democracy” has been replaced with “z” - democrazy.

Thaksin: Former Thai prime minister and wife skip bail and flee to Britain before corruption trial

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman Shinawatra (back) wade through an army of photographers at the criminal court in Bangkok July 31, 2008. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

• Thaksin claims family received death threats
• Fears for Manchester City as tycoon's assets frozen

Tuesday August 12 2008
Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok and Duncan Campbell
The Guardian (UK)

The former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra skipped bail yesterday and fled to exile in Britain, claiming he could not expect a fair trial on corruption charges because of political interference.

Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, who was sentenced to three years in prison two weeks ago for fraud, said they flew to Britain because they had received "death threats" in Thailand.

Rumours were rife that the couple would flee after Pojaman, 51, was convicted of evading millions of pounds in taxes in connection with a 1997 shares transfer deal. But family aides had scotched the suggestion.

Immediately after Pojaman was sentenced, along with her stepbrother, Bhanapot Damapong, and former secretary, Kanchanpana Honghern, on July 31, Thaksin left for a speaking engagement in Japan before travelling to China for the Olympics opening ceremony. Last Thursday the trio boarded a flight for Beijing to meet Thaksin.

But when Thaksin and his wife, who were due to appear before the supreme court in Bangkok, failed to return to Thailand arrest warrants were issued and the court ordered the forfeiture of £195,000 bail bond. The tycoon's son Phantongtae and daughters Pinthongta and Paethontan, also face corruption allegations.

In a handwritten statement faxed from London and read on Thai state television, Thaksin, 59, said he travelled to Britain rather than board a flight he had booked to take him back to Bangkok on Sunday. No mention was made of seeking political asylum in Britain.

The tycoon, who held office for five years, said he would remain in Britain indefinitely, but hoped that he would be able to return to his homeland one day. "My wife and I have travelled to reside in England," he said in the statement.

"If I still have luck, I would come back to die on Thai soil like every other Thai person. What happened to my family is like fruit from a poisonous tree - the fruit will also be poisoned.

"There is a continuation of dictatorship managing Thai politics ... which is followed by interference in the justice system. These are my political enemies.

They do not care about the rule of law, facts or internationally recognised due process," he added. Thaksin lived in exile in Britain for two years after he was ousted in a 2006 military coup. He returned to Thailand this year to face corruption charges against him after his political allies won new elections and formed a coalition government.

But just five months after returning to a hero's welcome, Thaksin railed against the Thai judicial system that he said was stacked against him, despite his allies in the People Power party winning the election in December.

The swift action against the pair yesterday suggested that almost £1bn of Thaksin's assets frozen in Thai bank accounts could be at risk, though he is believed to have significant funds salted away in banks outside the country.

Chris Baker, Thaksin's biographer and a political analyst, said of the statement: "Clearly Thaksin is very angry by the way things have turned out. He is obviously extremely emotional. There's a fighting tone; he's not given up completely."

But after Pojaman's conviction Baker said the writing was on the wall for the former leader. He said Thaksin did not want to take any chances with the verdict of a corruption case about an allegedly dubious land deal, due in September, because the verdict, for which there would be no appeal, would be decided by the supreme court.

The arrival in London of the telecoms tycoon could present the British government with a diplomatic dilemma. Thailand has had an extradition agreement with the UK since a 1911 bilateral treaty.

The Thai authorities could apply to have their former prime minister extradited, although it would be a lengthy procedure and one which Thaksin would resist on the grounds that the judiciary were allegedly leading a witch-hunt against him.

The legal proceedings also raised questions about the tycoon's ownership of Manchester City football club and what effect his departure may have on his financing of it.

Thaksin bought Manchester City for £81.6m during his 17-month exile in the UK. It is thought that the Premier League must now ascertain whether he remains a "fit and proper person" to run the club.

Fans have also questioned whether the tycoon's latest move and the freezing of his assets could put in jeopardy the funds he had hoped to make available for the purchase of new players.

The club, which kicks off its premiership season this weekend, declined to comment on Thaksin's status yesterday.

Backstory

Thaksin Shinawatra, 59, a former policeman from Chiang Mai who made a fortune in telecoms, was the first Thai prime minister to win two terms of office. He went into politics in 1994, becoming foreign minister, and then founded the Thai Rak Thai party in 1998. He became premier in 2001 backed by the rural poor but soon faced allegations of authoritarianism and corruption. He was ousted by the army in a bloodless coup in 2006. After refusing to face trial, he sought exile in Britain and bought Manchester City football club. Vowing to clear his name, he returned to Thailand but fled after his wife was sentenced for tax evasion.

Joint communique has gone missing in Thailand - Thai mass protest at Preah Vihear today

Joint communique has gone missing

Saturday July 12, 2008
MANOP THIP-OSOD & WASSANA NANUAM
Bangkok Post

The Democrat party's bid to impeach Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej over the Preah Vihear joint communique has hit a snag as the cabinet resolution related to the agreement can't be accessed. Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban said his party was not being allowed to see the June 17 cabinet resolution pledging support for the joint communique that Foreign Affairs Minister Noppadon Pattama had signed with Phnom Penh.

The joint declaration backing Cambodia's bid to list the temple as a World Heritage site was found to be unconstitutional by the Constitution Court.

The resolution has failed to appear on the government's website, where cabinet resolutions are usually posted, Mr Suthep said.

He criticised the government for failing to keep such an important resolution in the file.

He said the party could not invoke the Information Act to press for the release of the document as the law only covers requests for documents known to exist. The government earlier announced that the cabinet resolution on the issue had mistakenly not been filed.

Mr Suthep said it would be pointless in demanding access to it if they keep on saying that it does not exist.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva countered Mr Noppadon's remarks that only the temple was listed as a World Heritage site, not its surrounding area, based on the resolution of the World Heritage Committee (WHC).

The seven-nation sub-committee of the WHC has been allowed to manage Preah Vihear and to take care of only the Hindu temple, not the overlapping area surrounding the shrine, said Mr Noppadon.

Mr Abhisit said it was an oversight on the part of the minister and claimed the communique clearly mentioned the area surrounding the temple.

Mr Abhisit suggested the prime minister reshuffle the cabinet.

Senators Rosana Tositrakul and Somchai Sawaengkarn will today petition the National Counter Corruption Commission to take action against the entire cabinet. They have accused the cabinet of malfeasance and dereliction of duty after the Constitution Court ruled that the joint communique acknowledged by the cabinet is unconstitutional.

The People's Alliance for Democracy said it will also present a petition signed by 20,000 people seeking the removal of the entire cabinet to the Senate Speaker on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, people in Si Sa Ket are set to mount a mass protest against the listing of the Hindu temple today.