A Day In The Life In Exile

[ai kwaan]

A day in the life in exile

16 April 2009

www.7days.ae

Sean O’Driscoll discovers how Thaksin Shinawatra has got into the swing of things in Dubai

His swing, by all accounts, is improving. Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was never that great a golf player, said a close business contact, but years in exile are having a positive effect. “He was never that good, but I wasn’t either, but he’s getting better,” the businessman recalled.

From his huge mansion in Emirates Hills, Thaksin drives a short distance to the Montgomerie Golf Course, where he has been working on his game since the Thai military forced him out of office in 2006.

During the day, he takes calls from supporters and business associates and sometimes holds court at the five-star, Thai-managed Dusit Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road. “Why does he go there? He likes Thai food, like all Thai people,” said a business associate with a laugh.

A manager at the hotel said that she didn’t know how to reach Thaksin.

When told that a close associate said he might be there, she added: “Due to the sensitive nature of what is happening in our home country, nobody is talking about these things.”

She encapsulates the secrecy of so many people around Thaksin, who last week had a dhs100,000 arrest award placed on his head by Thai businessmen and military leaders and was this week charged with inciting unrest in his home country.

There was no comment from his interior designer, working on a massive overhaul of the Emirates Hills mansion; no comment from almost

all Thai-born business associates living in Dubai.

A British executive who has worked with him for a number of years said: “Let’s just say that he is a businessman turned politician from a developing country. I’m not stating anything but fact, but I think the inference is there.”

In other words, Thaksin has some major fraud charges hanging over him. He has been convicted of corruption in his home country and fled to avoid arrest. A Thai court said he committed massive corruption, earning tens of millions of dirhams, the accusations not eased by his very public bids for Liverpool and Fulham football clubs while still Prime Minister.

Out of office, his premiership fantasies came true when he purchased Manchester City for almost dhs500 million. He was forced to sell it to Abu Dhabi, which helped in his application for residence in Dubai. And now he sits, a king without a throne, practising his putt, making the encouraging calls to Thailand and biding his time. And this week, his time came quite dramatically.

Months of radio and video broadcasts to Thailand have paid off. His supporters, mostly the northern rural poor and some self-employed, have exploded onto the streets.

They have brought Bangkok to a standstill and forced the government to declare a state of emergency. “He can’t talk right now, we’re about to do a live broadcast,” said his Dubai assistant when I sought a word with the big man.

A little later, Thaksin was on CNN, “from a secret location”, fudging as best he could about whether he intends to reclaim power in Thailand. “I can relax and have a good life,” said Thaksin. And indeed he can. A video captured last year by Thailand TV showed him window shopping in Wafi mall with his daughter. He has been frequently spotted in Dubai restaurants and malls, even turning up to mingle at Ahlan magazine’s Hot 100 party in February.

“He’s very outgoing, he talks a lot. Thai people have a natural reserve but he talks, perhaps more than he should,” said the British business associate.

However he wasn’t prepared to speak when contacted by the UAE Manchester City Supporters Club. “We sent him an invite to come and talk at a

conference but we never heard a word back,” said Mark Lynch from the club.

But then, why should he? Tens of thousands of adoring Thai citizens are risking their lives to bring him back. He is on the brink of a triumphant, government-cracking return to his native country. ‘He is very, very shrewd,” says Vai Sirimontkalodom, a Dubai-based advertising manager, from Thailand. “He gave jobs and great healthcare to the poor. He’s a good businessman, he knows how to operate, but he got a little too greedy.”

Another Thai woman working in a Dubai marketing company was not as generous. “I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. If I saw him on the street, I would jump on him. I know some friends who all but spat on him when they saw him in London.“If he is seen around town, well, I’m not bothered. I’m not going to shake his hand any time soon.”

www.7days.ae full article here

[kiakaha]

He's got wealth, power, control and the ability to ACT.

At the other end of the spectrum are nameless, faceless internet loser nobodys who have nothing but winging, moaning and petty gradeschool like insults. Regurgitated loserism at its finest.

I dont care about Taksin or Thai politics at all , but I do find the disparitys of the various camps to be very hilarious.

The world is full of big mouths..blah blah blah blah blah : is all they've got...actions are all that really count.

[phaethon]

Abhisit is due to visit UAE and Dubai soon to promote tourism at a couple of Thai Festivals in the region.

Wonder if he'll stop by for cuppa with Tacky, maybe even a round of golf or two...?