Foreign Ministry Revokes Thaksin's Diplomatic Passport

[george]

Thai FM revoked Thaksin's diplomatic passport

BANGKOK: -- The Foreign Ministry has revoked diplomatic passport held by fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the ministry said Monday. The ministry said in a statement that the ministry decided to teminate the passport since Dec12.

The statement said Thaksin was already informed.

-- The Nation 2008-12-15

[sriracha john]

[FatherF]

I wonder whether extradition proceedings will be started now? (Assuming that he is in a country that has such an agreement with Thailand!)

FF

[grandpops]

I wonder whether extradition proceedings will be started now? (Assuming that he is in a country that has such an agreement with Thailand!)

FF

Sinful thought of the day

Perhaps the PAD should head off to China and The Middle East in search of their nemesis!

A nice christmas image would be of them trying it on with a real police force and army at a real airport!

Maybe Sriracha John could design us a nice Christmas card depicting them in action with their little clappers in a Chinese jail. He certainly did a top job with his first post on this thread

Red shirts all round I would imagine!

3 Hail mary's do you FatherF?

[Jingthing]

Something tells me he will be easier to locate than Osama Bin Laden. A cave dweller, he is not.

[wayfarer108]

:D

[DerringDo]

If they could locate him they could try for extradition, but that's why he pre-recorded and moved further away from Thailand, perhaps.

Methinks that perhaps he's rich enough to ignore his normal Thai passport and just travel around on a 3rd/4th/5th country passport anyway.

[brahmburgers]

I have no love for Thaksin, but I don't favor hounding the man.

Hopefully, he'll find a way to be a bit gracious in his old age, and realize the less he's involved with Thailand, the better able Thai folks can get going on the road to recovery - from the rifts and malaise it's in - in no small part due to the Mr. T's insatiable lust for wealth and power.

[FatherF]

I wonder whether extradition proceedings will be started now? (Assuming that he is in a country that has such an agreement with Thailand!)

FF

Sinful thought of the day

Perhaps the PAD should head off to China and The Middle East in search of their nemesis!

A nice christmas image would be of them trying it on with a real police force and army at a real airport!

Maybe Sriracha John could design us a nice Christmas card depicting them in action with their little clappers in a Chinese jail. He certainly did a top job with his first post on this thread

Red shirts all round I would imagine!

3 Hail mary's do you FatherF?

Bless you grandpops,

I did a couple of "Our Fathers" as well, just for good measure.......

FF

[Jingthing]

Hopefully, he'll find a way to be a bit gracious in his old age, and realize the less he's involved with Thailand, the better

What about this man's past behavior is predictive of your pie in the sky hopes? He is on a path of destruction. Will it be self destruction or will it be the destruction of Thailand?

[animatic]

I have no love for Thaksin, but I don't favor hounding the man.

Hopefully, he'll find a way to be a bit gracious in his old age, and realize the less he's involved with Thailand, the better able Thai folks can get going on the road to recovery - from the rifts and malaise it's in - in no small part due to the Mr. T's insatiable lust for wealth and power.

I have no doubt that if I made off with the sums

he is suspected of malappropriating,

they would hound me but good.

They are after that guy in Toronto still to this day.

One law for the super rich Thais and one for the super rich farangs maybe?

He has a warrent out for him, proper measures is to send this to Interpol.

[Kerryd]

Does he still have his personal passport though ?

If all he had was his diplo passport and it's revoked, he should be screwed. Not too many countries that will allow foreign nationals to stay without a passport. Even if he entered, say the UAE and had a 60 day stamp, once the passport is revoked, he's illegal.

He would become the new "Terminal" man. No passport means he can't leave whatever country he's in, and can't stay there either. If he somehow "acquires" another passport, it would obviously be a fake.

How long until we hear that he's been busted in Dubai or elsewhere, trying to use a fake passport ? Maybe he can trade his remaining stake in MC to his Abu Dhabi benefactors, in exchange for a visitor visa.

What happens when he goes into a bank to make a withdrawal with a revoked (or faked) passport ? Would his "former" PM status grant him leniency, or would his "convicted criminal on the run" status land him in some skanky prison ? He may find himself wishing he'd come back to Thailand to do his time, where his wealth and contacts could have at least made his sentence somewhat bearable (though he may have had to forgo the fancy dinners and clean suits most days of the week, at least when he was biting the pillow it would be because it was one of his own countrymen "bringing up the rear" instead of some nasty foreigner).

[britmaveric]

Quite sure he could get a Chinese passport quite easily.

[Jingthing]

Does he still have his personal passport though ?

Yes

[kalbo123]

Does he still have his personal passport though ?

Yes

ofcourse he is Thai... you cant' just take someones identity...

[h90]

Quite sure he could get a Chinese passport quite easily.

Chinese for sure not, they don't like corruption.

But some African Passport wouldn't be a problem

[Kerryd]

Does he still have his personal passport though ?

Yes

ofcourse he is Thai... you cant' just take someones identity...

Revoking someone's passport isn't the same as stripping them of their citizenship. People have their travel privileges restricted all the time for various reasons. It doesn't mean they are no longer citizens of their country.

Revoking his Diplomatic passport just means that he now has to use his personal one, and adhere to the normal visa and entry rules like everyone else.

No more special privileges for being a former diplomat.

That alone should make it harder for him to travel, as many countries are not to keen on knowingly letting convicted criminals into their countries.

[mhatami]

Quite sure he could get a Chinese passport quite easily.

Why do you think he divorced his wife, so she can help him from here to cash in? He probably saw the future, but I hope it backfires for both of them

[jdinasia]

Well hopefully the other appropriate ministry will yank his regular passport soon.

[Thai at Heart]

Does he still have his personal passport though ?

Yes

ofcourse he is Thai... you cant' just take someones identity...

Revoking someone's passport isn't the same as stripping them of their citizenship. People have their travel privileges restricted all the time for various reasons. It doesn't mean they are no longer citizens of their country.

Revoking his Diplomatic passport just means that he now has to use his personal one, and adhere to the normal visa and entry rules like everyone else.

No more special privileges for being a former diplomat.

That alone should make it harder for him to travel, as many countries are not to keen on knowingly letting convicted criminals into their countries.

Diplomatic passports do not guarantee entry, they are subject to reciprocal rules which may grant entry for a period of time, but often require accompanying documents from the home nations foreign office to grant extended long periods of stay (over 6 months).

[Kerryd]

Quite sure he could get a Chinese passport quite easily.

Chinese for sure not, they don't like corruption.

But some African Passport wouldn't be a problem

As most of us know, it generally isn't possibly to just enter some country and apply for a passport for that country.

Sure, if you spread enough wealth around to the right people anything's possible. But considering the person in question, I'd think many countries would be hesitant to grant Mr T any kind of citizenship and passport.

Even some "less than savoury" countries might baulk at granting a passport (with all the rights that conveys) to a convicted criminal on the run.

And then there's Mr T himself to consider. Do you think he'd want to go to Togo, Lesotho, Chad, Algeria or the "Democratic Republic of Congo" and apply for a passport ? Would his ego be able to bear stooping that low, just to get a passport ?

How would that reflect on his image in Thailand ? Hero of the people, on the lam, travelling on an African passport ?

I think his options are becoming very limited, very quickly.

[Vato]

god i would love to have his email address...

[sriracha john]

Quite sure he could get a Chinese passport quite easily.

Chinese for sure not, they don't like corruption.

But some African Passport wouldn't be a problem

[Ricardo]

Does he still have his personal passport though ?

Yes

ofcourse he is Thai... you cant' just take someones identity...

Revoking someone's passport isn't the same as stripping them of their citizenship. People have their travel privileges restricted all the time for various reasons. It doesn't mean they are no longer citizens of their country.

Revoking his Diplomatic passport just means that he now has to use his personal one, and adhere to the normal visa and entry rules like everyone else.

No more special privileges for being a former diplomat.

That alone should make it harder for him to travel, as many countries are not to keen on knowingly letting convicted criminals into their countries.

As a convicted-criminal on-the-run I think it is right & just, that he lose any special-treatment connected with a diplomatic-passport, but he is still Thai, so should still keep his ordinary Thai passport, and be treated normally when entering countries.

I'm sure his friends in the UAE, or the Bahamas or B.V.I., might also give (or have given) him an alternative option, but would he wish to be seen by his supporters here to be using it ? I doubt it.

It's interesting that the Foreign Ministry are only now announcing this action, which they claim was taken last Friday, and after the election of a new government of a different hue. Not that they're trying to curry favour, with their new masters, or anything ! Perish the thought !

[whatawonderfulday]

Quite sure he could get a Chinese passport quite easily.

Chinese for sure not, they don't like corruption.

But some African Passport wouldn't be a problem

Zimbabwe perhaps where he can partake in drinking the local water supply also with luck !

[PeaceBlondie]

On a related thread that is now closed, ThaiPaully had a great idea that Taksin should come back, serve his jail time, and re-emerge as a conquering martyr who would save Thailand. Good point, ThaiPaully. Several famous leaders have gone to jail and come back out to lead their people. Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia and Nelson Mandela come to mind, also Gandhi and King served time in jail.

[hammered]

On a related thread that is now closed, ThaiPaully had a great idea that Taksin should come back, serve his jail time, and re-emerge as a conquering martyr who would save Thailand. Good point, ThaiPaully. Several famous leaders have gone to jail and come back out to lead their people. Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia and Nelson Mandela come to mind, also Gandhi and King served time in jail.

Mmmm but that nice Mr. Thaksin said he wont come back to jail just as PM to save the country......... but first to destroy the country to save it.

[phupaman]

Hi All.

How long do you think he will serve in Jail , when you add up what time he will get on the remaining charges on file. How old will he be before he even gets the chance to rule again? Will anyone remember him? doubt it..

Phupaman.

[sriracha john]

It's good that the Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary was finally able to act on this long overdue matter...and it's unfortunate that he was able to do only after the Foreign Affairs Minister and Thaksin's Chiang Mai boyhood chum Sompong Amornvivat had been kicked to the curb with the other electoral fraud People Power Party executives.

Edited December 16, 2008 by sriracha john

[sunsamourai]

Something tells me he will be easier to locate than Osama Bin Laden. A cave dweller, he is not.

And he does not have that much US support...