Thaksin Mulled Government In Exile

[Mid]

Thaksin mulled government in exile

BREAKING NEWS

(dpa) - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seriously considered setting up a government in exile after he was toppled by a military coup last year, a close aide to the deposed premier has revealed.

"Right after the coup of September 19, 2006, we planned to launch a government in exile but a telephone call from Bangkok changed all that," Jakrapob Penkair, a former deputy chief of staff to premier Thaksin, told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.

snip

The Post Publishing Public Co

[Prakanong]

Telephone call from Bangkok???

A bit cryptic!

[samtam]

Khun Jakrapob isn't giving much away....a telephone call....from whom?

[lazeeboy]

Khun Jakrapob isn't giving much away....a telephone call....from whom?

keep taksin in the news at all costs.............

[JetsetBkk]

Khun Jakrapob isn't giving much away....a telephone call....from whom?

From someone with a very big gun?

[samran]

no, probably someone who told him that they wouldn't move to the UK and its miserable weather for all the money in the world.

Plus, the realisation that they rent-a-crowds in the UK charge 4 quid per hour rather than 100 baht per day.

[Mid]

no, probably someone who told him that they wouldn't move to the UK and its miserable weather for all the money in the world.

wonder how that worked out .......................

[Mid]

Deposed premier Thaksin mulled government in exile

Thu, August 30, 2007 : Last updated 14:35 hours

Jakrapob claimed Thaksin changed the idea after he received a telephone call from a mysterious person in Bangkok, Deutsche Press Agentur reported.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seriously considered setting up a government in exile after he was toppled by a military coup last year, a close aide to the deposed premier has revealed.

"Right after the coup of September 19, 2006, we planned to launch a government in exile but a telephone call from Bangkok changed all that," Jakrapob Penkair, a former deputy chief of staff to premier Thaksin, told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.

Thaksin, Thailand's controversial populist prime minister between 2001 to 2006, was deposed by a coup while he was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly.

He was reportedly shocked by the Thai military's political blitzkrieg against him and initially attempted to block the coup by declaring a state of emergency in a Thai TV broadcast that was quickly taken off the air.

The deposed premier at that point seriously considered setting up a government in exile at the United Nations in New York, according to Jakrapob, who was a government spokesman under Thaksin's first administration.

"It was not him who came up with the idea of a government in exile," said Jakrapob. "It came from some of us, including me."

Jakrapob claimed that Thaksin's loyalists informally approached several countries to see if they would endorse a government in exile "and they said they would."

But Thaksin nixed the notion after he received a telephone call from a mysterious person in Bangkok, whom Jakrapob refused to name, and flew to London where he has remained in self-exile since.

"When the crucial decision came, even he made the decision based on the patronage system," told correspondents in a prepared speech on "democracy versus patronage" in Thailand.

Jakrapob, a former TV presenter who joined Thaksin's first administration in 2001, was recently arrested for leading a demonstration outside the private home of former premier and current privy council president Prem Tinsulanonda.

Prem, 87, a former army commander-in-chief who led Thailand between 1979 to 1988 as an appointed prime minister, is now president of the privy council.

Deutsche Press Agentur

nationmultimedia.com

Edited August 30, 2007 by Mid

[jumnien]

I think we are not allowed to name who called him anymore than Thaksin or anyone else would be. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who it might have been!

[samran]

I think we are not allowed to name who called him anymore than Thaksin or anyone else would be. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who it might have been!

in which case I suggest members tread very carefully!

[Siripon]

Thaksin mulled government in exile

BREAKING NEWS

(dpa) - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seriously considered setting up a government in exile after he was toppled by a military coup last year, a close aide to the deposed premier has revealed.

"Right after the coup of September 19, 2006, we planned to launch a government in exile but a telephone call from Bangkok changed all that," Jakrapob Penkair, a former deputy chief of staff to premier Thaksin, told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.

snip

The Post Publishing Public Co

It was probably the colonel or young husband.

[ColPyat]

It was probably the colonel or young husband.

Couldn't be me - i was on a short holiday and a bit of work in Europe, and only came back 2 or 3 days after the coup. I have expected the coup to be a month or so later, and was surprised how early it came.

[steveromagnino]

Thaksin mulled government in exile

BREAKING NEWS

(dpa) - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seriously considered setting up a government in exile after he was toppled by a military coup last year, a close aide to the deposed premier has revealed.

"Right after the coup of September 19, 2006, we planned to launch a government in exile but a telephone call from Bangkok changed all that," Jakrapob Penkair, a former deputy chief of staff to premier Thaksin, told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.

snip

The Post Publishing Public Co

It was probably the colonel or young husband.

I suspect like most of the other crud that comes from this guy's mouth that there was no phone call and all the other goons on TV who fronted TRT at the start of the coup quickly realised that a govt in exile that did not have the support of the military, the police, the large financial backers of TRT, many of the factions within TRT, the civil service or of the capital city would have not last long, and would not have the same polarising effect on the poor mass support in the north and northeast. Additionally, better to be a matyr than remain in power and have to explain why everything was falling apart at the airport and most of the other scandals. You could see many of the deal makers holed up in the big BKK hotels for days straight after the coup, clearly figuring out which side to back, and once 'mad dog' Newin et al were locked up, it was pretty obvious that their day to stand and fight might be in the future, but certainly not then.

So... better to reference a mysterious force knowing that it can never be confirmed nor denied.

Helps build up the matyr aspect - of course anyone seeing 'that picture of Taksin' and his attire, and knowing the man towards the end, would find it hard to believe he was capable of listening to anyone.

Or perhaps it was one of bizarre upcountry phone call wrong numbers that one gets so regularly on the AIS network. Or maybe it was the curse of the scottish play. WHo knows....definitely not a bulls*t artist for hire for 40m baht.

I personally think it was Colonel mustard, in the bedroom with the candlestick.

Edited August 30, 2007 by steveromagnino

[Ricardo]

I'm sure that it would have been the finest government-in-exile, that money can buy, it even would have had its own football-team.

Slightly off-topic, do you think Frank would nowadays have more respect for the role of the United Nations ("they are not my father") or for The Lady, than he showed when still in power ?

Edited August 30, 2007 by Ricardo

[Siripon]

I'm sure that it would have been the finest government-in-exile, that money can buy, it even would have had its own football-team.

Slightly off-topic, do you think Frank would nowadays have more respect for the role of the United Nations ("they are not my father") or for The Lady, than he showed when still in power ?

Frank has turned to the younger generation rather than his elders since exile. The comfort and joy from spending quality time with Mai Charenpura and Lydia far exceeds the pleasure of eating noodles with Mr Ban the rather dull UN head.

The EU is more to his taste these days.

[JohnnyThai]

Am I the only one who is not illiterate? The article clearly alludes to who called him.

[mark100]

Thaksin mulled government in exile

BREAKING NEWS

(dpa) - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seriously considered setting up a government in exile after he was toppled by a military coup last year, a close aide to the deposed premier has revealed.

"Right after the coup of September 19, 2006, we planned to launch a government in exile but a telephone call from Bangkok changed all that," Jakrapob Penkair, a former deputy chief of staff to premier Thaksin, told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday night.

snip

The Post Publishing Public Co

Maybe it was Manchester City !

[sriracha john]

The deposed premier at that point seriously considered setting up a government in exile at the United Nations in New York, according to Jakrapob, who was a government spokesman under Thaksin's first administration.

Edited August 30, 2007 by sriracha john

[Ricardo]

Am I the only one who is not illiterate? The article clearly alludes to who called him.

Who ? Mrs P. ?? aka 'she who must be obeyed'. Or was she too busy packing suitcases full of boodle ???