Thaksin Bids For Montenegro Island

[sriracha john]

Dubai police: Thaksin's not here

A senior Dubai police official has insisted that fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is not in the United Arab Emirates.

"The former prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, is not in Dubai and no one with this name is here," Dubai Deputy Police Commander Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina told Gulf News.

Thai police have asked for Interpol's assistance to locate the outlawed politician, who is now said to be carrying up to six passports from different countries, none of them Thai.

Continued:

-- Bangkok Post 2009-06-02

[sriracha john]

Thaksin shall return: Pheu Thai Party campaign pledge

Pheu Thai Party MP Chalerm Yoobamrung has vowed to pave the way for the return of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra if his main opposition party forms the next coalition.

"Pheu Thai wants to bring back Thaksin from his exile," Chalerm said in the campaign speech in Nakhon Phanom on Wednesday.

Chalerm was in the northeastern province to woo votes for Pheu Thai Party candidate Anurak Boonson in the by-election for Nakong Phanom's Constituency 3.

In the campaign pitch to his constituents, he said the by-election was a direct race between Pheu Thai and Bhum Jai Thai Parties.

He said Isaan people will have to make a choice if they want to bring about "happiness" made possible by popular policies under Pheu Thai and its two preceding Parties - Thai Rak Thai and People Power.

He also pledged to impose a five-year debt moratorium for all retail debtors with a loan not exceeding Bt500,000.

-- The Nation 2009-06-04

[brahmburgers]

Thaksin shall return: Pheu Thai Party campaign pledge

Pheu Thai Party MP Chalerm Yoobamrung has vowed to pave the way for the return of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra if his main opposition party forms the next coalition.

He also pledged to impose a five-year debt moratorium for all retail debtors with a loan not exceeding Bt500,000.

-- The Nation 2009-06-04

jeezo, already making campaign pledges in 'pie-in-the-sky' fashion that T. used so effectively in his initial nationwide political campaign - which was so successful.

Back then, T. promised debt relief for farmers. A noble concept, but not realistic. Any farmers who may have benefited - were those from regions which voted most strongly for T.

T. promised a cap of 30 baht per hospital visit per day. Also a noble concept, but unrealistic and exclusionary. It excluded hundreds of thousands of hill tribers who have resided in Thailand for generations, but are sidelined from government programs because they cannot get full-fledged Thai ID's. Proof of it's unrealism was the fact that many health care workers and doctors have split from gov't run hospitals, because hospitals didn't have the revenue to pay them a decent wage - even by low Thai standards.

[sriracha john]

Stay by Thai ex-premier Thaksin in Germany triggers fury

Berlin - A previously unnoticed sojourn by former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra in Germany at the start of this year upset Bangkok and triggered fury in Berlin, a German newspaper reported Friday.

Thailand has sentenced billionaire Thaksin in absentia to two years' prison for conflict of interest. He has moved around the world, always one step ahead of arrest warrants from his homeland.

The Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Thaksin had last summer obtained a 90-day visa to visit Germany. Then, on December 29, 2008 in Bonn, he obtained a one-year residency permit, picking it up in person without federal officials noticing.

The newspaper said the permit was cancelled at Berlin's demand on May 28.

It was not clear from the report where Thaksin was living now. The paper said he was using a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport. His Thai passport has been revoked.

Thaksin, who ruled from 2001 to 2006, was deposed in a military coup and continues to be revered by Thailand's populist red-shirt protest movement.

The Sueddeutsche said the discovery that a Bonn immigration office had issued Thaksin a permit triggered inter-agency suspicions in the German federal government.

But neither the Foreign Ministry nor the BND foreign-intelligence service had known about the permit.

It said the billionaire, who stated he was living in Bonn's elegant suburb of Bad Godesberg, had been accompanied to the immigration office by a respected lawyer, a retired German police commander and a freelance troubleshooter, Werner Mauss.

It said the clerk was given to understand that Mauss, 69, represented the BND.

German diplomats, furious that German relations with Thailand had been endangered, initially accused the BND of engineering the visa. But Mauss had apparently acted independently.

- DPA / 2009-06-05

[sriracha john]

Buried in the earlier post:

"In response to news that Thaksin had obtained a Montenegrin passport, Managing Director of the Network for Affirmation of the Non-governmental Sector, Vanja Calovic, contacted the Transparency International Organization to protest against the move.

European NGOs have demanded that Montenegro's interior ministry reveal the details of the issuance of the passport as well as Thaksin's qualifications for receiving it.

They claim he is not eligible for a Montenegrin passport because he does not have Montenegrin citizenship."

>>>

Looks like Nicaragua has lost their special ambassador, I wonder if similar objections by their MP regarding legality of Thaksin's passport played any role there. In both cases the President can apparently order to print a book with Thaksin's picture in it, but has no authority to grant citizenship, and no citizenhip - no passport.

Whether it's stoking NGO's to protest to their government or a different government's opposition party to raise hel_l with a government as per below post... it's quickly becoming evident that wherever he goes and whatever he touches, Thaksin generates turmoil... He's truly tainted and spreads his manure with every footstep.

Add Montenegro to the Nicaragua, Thailand, Cambodia, et al list....

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega shakes hands with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

REUTERS

Thaksin running out of hiding places

As former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra travels around the world, international police are preparing arrest warrants against him, reported The Age.

Nicaraguan Opposition Questions Thaksin's Passport

The Nicaraguan opposition party warned its President that issuing a diplomatic passport to Thai fugitive former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra, may be against the country's laws. Meanwhile, the Vice President of Nicaragua denies any prior knowledge of the issue.

The Nicaraguan opposition party warned the Nicaraguan government, after it authorized a diplomatic passport for fugitive former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, that his position did not warrant this accreditation, even if there are plans to appoint him to be an investment consultant to the country.

A report in the Nicaraguan press revealed that Vice President Jaime Morales, who is responsible for overseas investor relations, does not have a close relationship with Thaksin. However, Thaksin has been appointed as a special ambassador of Nicaragua.

The report said that the Nicaraguan government, led by President Daniel Ortega, remains quiet about this issue, fearful that it could be lead to a conflict between the two countries.

^ Thaksin causing turmoil in yet ANOTHER country.... Germany

Shhhhh.... we get secret visa for you...

Werner Mauss

Werner Mauss on Wikipedia:

http://translate.google.co.th/translate?hl...ficial%26sa%3DN

Also:

Werner Mauss homepage:

http://www.werner-mauss.com/index.html

[luvU2much500THB]

TV News Channels here in germany report right now that former thai premier thaksin is now ( lives now ) in BONN /GERMANY.

YOU`RE HERE MR.THAKSIN . and no for sure !

Edited June 5, 2009 by luvU2much500THB

[BSJ]

For a million Euros I can make his island level.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin’s use of Rhine refuge embarrasses German government

Thaksin Shinawatra, former Thai prime minister, must have known: For a washed-up leader with practically unlimited money in the kitty, there is no refuge quite like Bonn on the Rhine.

Palatial riverside homes behind high walls offer privacy. One can flit away across open borders to nine other nations by car. Bonn people are used to spies and diplomats who resent nosy questions.

With deft understatement, thriller writer John Le Carre once called the former German capital “A Small Town in Germany”, where Cold War warriors conspired behind bland faces and tidy streets.

When Thaksin turned up last December 29 at the city immigration office to ask for a one-year residency permit, the desk clerk must have thought it was a job where it was best to ask no questions, according to an account in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Unlike the refugees and foreign students who queue for hours, this foreigner arrived trailing an escort of big-wigs. One was a renowned German lawyer. A second was Gerd Steffen, the retired commander of the city of Bonn police criminal-investigation department.

The fourth man seated on Thaksin’s side of the desk gave his name as Richard Nelson. The clerk thought he heard Nelson say that he was connected to the German foreign-intelligence agency, the BND.

During a subsequent investigation in Bonn, which led to the residency permit being cancelled on May 28, angry German diplomats accused the BND of engineering the visa and wondered if the BND had somehow conspired with one of Asia’s most wanted men.

As it turned out, the BND had never been involved. Things were not as they seemed in Bonn, where an Asian face does not stand out in a crowd and it is possible to hide in full public view.

A Thai court last year sentenced Thaksin in absentia to two years in prison for abuse of power, for allowing his wife to bid on a plot of Bangkok land at a government auction when he was premier in 2003.

The ex-policeman, who built up Shin Corp to become one of Thailand’s biggest companies, and ran Thailand from 2001 to 2006, has since moved around the world, always one step ahead of Thai arrest warrants.

His whereabouts have been a mystery for much of the past year. He showed up in Beijing at the opening of the Olympic Games last year, then moved to London for several months until his visa was revoked. According to the Sueddeutsche, he was then on the move with a 90-day European Union visa issued in France.

The news media claimed sightings in Hong Kong, Bali, the United Arab Emirates, Montenegro, and even Africa. But in fact he was in Bonn. The BND initially suspected the shadowy fourth man was a foreign intelligence operative, but finally recognized “Nelson” as one of the stock names used by a private detective, Werner Mauss, 69, who does not work at the BND, the newspaper said.

Over the years, Mauss has repeatedly figured in the news in Germany as a steel-nerved, freelance troubleshooter with remarkable access to the Bonn police and government departments.

Thaksin could doubtless afford any fees charged by Mauss and a well-connected German lawyer.

The immigration clerk also asked if Thaksin, 59, had sufficient income, to ensure he would not require German social-welfare support. Obviously. Did he have health insurance? Of course.

With his escorts translating, the billionaire stated that he was living in Bonn’s most elegant suburb, Bad Godesberg, where the leafy streets are lined with park-like gardens and fine old mansions with terraces overlooking the lovely Rhine.

- DPA / 2009-06-05

[sriracha john]

Thai ex-premier Thaksin spent half year in Germany

Berlin - Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been convicted in absentia of corruption, spent half a year almost unnoticed in the German city of Bonn, a civic official confirmed Friday.

Thaksin's whereabouts had been a mystery since he ended a sojourn in London late last year. Friedel Frechen, a municipal spokesman in Bonn, said Thaksin showed up at the city immigration office last December 29 and applied for a residency permit.

It was revoked at the end of May after a rebuke from the German government with a warning that Thaksin's presence posed a risk to German foreign relations.

Frechen said the revocation was served on Thaksin, 59, who appeared to have then departed.

Defending the immigration clerks, Frechen said Thaksin's name had not been on a list of people barred from Germany and he had presented all the necessary documents, including a certificate from a German federal justice agency saying he had no criminal record.

He had also proved he had adequate funds to live and a valid passport.

Officials said the absence of Thaksin's name from the list of barred persons was the result of a data-entry oversight by staff of the German Foreign Ministry.

A Thai court has sentenced billionaire Thaksin in absentia to two years' prison for conflict of interest. He has moved around the world, always one step ahead of arrest warrants from his homeland. His Thai passport has now been revoked.

The Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Thaksin was now using a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport.

Thaksin, who ruled from 2001 to 2006, was deposed in a military coup and continues to be revered by Thailand's populist red-shirt protest movement.

The Sueddeutsche said the discovery that the Bonn immigration office had issued Thaksin a permit triggered inter-agency suspicions in the German federal government. But neither the Foreign Ministry nor the BND foreign-intelligence service had known about the permit.

It said the billionaire, who stated he was living in Bonn's elegant suburb of Bad Godesberg, had been accompanied to the immigration office by a respected lawyer, a retired German police commander and a freelance troubleshooter, Werner Mauss.

- DPA / 2009-06-05

[Plus]

Before someone accuses local media of being Thaksin obsessive - The Nation carries exact reprint of the first DPA report in the corner of the second page with relatively small headline font.

[hammered]

Thaksin shall return: Pheu Thai Party campaign pledge

Pheu Thai Party MP Chalerm Yoobamrung has vowed to pave the way for the return of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra if his main opposition party forms the next coalition.

"Pheu Thai wants to bring back Thaksin from his exile," Chalerm said in the campaign speech in Nakhon Phanom on Wednesday.

Chalerm was in the northeastern province to woo votes for Pheu Thai Party candidate Anurak Boonson in the by-election for Nakong Phanom's Constituency 3.

In the campaign pitch to his constituents, he said the by-election was a direct race between Pheu Thai and Bhum Jai Thai Parties.

He said Isaan people will have to make a choice if they want to bring about "happiness" made possible by popular policies under Pheu Thai and its two preceding Parties - Thai Rak Thai and People Power.

He also pledged to impose a five-year debt moratorium for all retail debtors with a loan not exceeding Bt500,000.

-- The Nation 2009-06-04

Peau Thai will walk this constituency. Or to put it another way, if they lose up here or it is even close they are in trouble.

[bellachg]

Thaksin shall return: Pheu Thai Party campaign pledge

Pheu Thai Party MP Chalerm Yoobamrung has vowed to pave the way for the return of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra if his main opposition party forms the next coalition.

He also pledged to impose a five-year debt moratorium for all retail debtors with a loan not exceeding Bt500,000.

-- The Nation 2009-06-04

jeezo, already making campaign pledges in 'pie-in-the-sky' fashion that T. used so effectively in his initial nationwide political campaign - which was so successful.

Back then, T. promised debt relief for farmers. A noble concept, but not realistic. Any farmers who may have benefited - were those from regions which voted most strongly for T.

T. promised a cap of 30 baht per hospital visit per day. Also a noble concept, but unrealistic and exclusionary. It excluded hundreds of thousands of hill tribers who have resided in Thailand for generations, but are sidelined from government programs because they cannot get full-fledged Thai ID's. Proof of it's unrealism was the fact that many health care workers and doctors have split from gov't run hospitals, because hospitals didn't have the revenue to pay them a decent wage - even by low Thai standards.

It also does not include the people who need it most, the thousands of migratory labourers from the Isaan who work in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin resided in Germany

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had been living in Germany for about six months, according to the Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The fugitive politician showed up at Bonn's immigration office in December last year and used a valid Nicaraguan diplomatic passport.

The Foreign Ministry had revoked his Thai passport in April in an attempt to restrict his movements abroad.

However, German officials confirmed that Thaksin was no longer living in Germany.

Continued:

-- Bangkok Post 2009-06-07

[sriracha john]

Prime Minister: Ex-premier Thaksin travelling overseas under false names

BANGKOK, June 7 (TNA) -- Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by coup d’etat in September 2006, is now travelling internationally using aliases, making it more difficult to locate and return him to Thailand to serve his jail sentence, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday.

Admitting that it is difficult to find Thaksin, ousted in September 2006, Mr. Abhisit said he had only heard that the former premier traveled to a number of countries although his Thai passports, both diplomatic and ordinary, had earlier been revoked by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said Thaksin is now using foreign passports given to him to traveling to a number of countries.

The government might ask for cooperation from countries where Thaksin is believed to stay not to allow him to use their countries as a springboard for attacking Thailand, said Mr. Abhisit.

A Thai court in October last year sentenced Thaksin in absentia to two years in prison for abuse of power, for allowing his then wife to bid on a plot of Bangkok land at a government auction in 2003 while he was a prime minister.

Mr. Abhisit said his government had sought cooperation from Interpol to track the ousted premier, the problem of Thaksin’s false names remains a complicating factor.

-- TNA 2009-06-07

[sriracha john]

Thaksin 'using different names'

The search of ex-premier Thaksin Shinwatra has been made more difficult because he has used different names while travelling, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

He said the name changes added to the problems of investigators, making it harder for the government to arrest Thaksin.

Reacting to Abhisit's remark, former Thai Rak Thai Party Deputy Secretary-General [and former Finance Minister in former PM Samak's Cabinet - PPP Banned # 12] Surapong Suebwonglee said the premier should ensure he had accurate information before making such a statement. He said it was extremely difficult for celebrities, especially former prime ministers, to use fake names on passports or visas. "The best way is to avoiding giving information, if you cannot supply correct information,'' he said.

-- The Nation 2009-06-08

Edited June 8, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Prime Minister: Ex-premier Thaksin travelling overseas under false names

BANGKOK, June 7 (TNA) -- Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by coup d’etat in September 2006, is now travelling internationally using aliases

Thaksin 'using different names'

The search of ex-premier Thaksin Shinwatra has been made more difficult because he has used different names while travelling, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

Reminds one of 2007 Manchester City...

Frank Sinatra

Frank Shinatra ?

[sriracha john]

PM Denies Having Knowledge of Thaksin's German Visa Cancellation

The Prime Minister denies having any knowledge regarding a report that Germany has canceled the visa of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, saying that the Foreign Affairs Ministry is working in cooperation with related international agencies to bring Thaksin to justice.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stated he has no knowledge regarding a report that the German administration has nullified the ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's visa, adding that he has not received any reports of Thaksin traveling to Germany.

Abhisit said the Foreign Ministry is working in cooperation with related agencies such as Interpol and countries that Thailand has diplomatic relations with, in an effort not to allow Thaksin to use their countries as bases to attack Thailand.

He admitted that it would be difficult to have Thaksin extradited, as he might assume a new name. Another concern is that bilateral agreements regarding extradition between Thailand and other countries must be created, which is not easy to do.

A newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, in Berlin reported that Thaksin Shinawatra had obtained a one-year residency permit in Bonn in December of last year and that the passport in question was canceled on May 28 after an investigation by German administration.

The same source also reported that after Thaksin's British visa was revoked, while he was in France, he petitioned for a 90-day visa to travel in Europe. He then resided in Bonn on the Rhine river last summer where the residency permit was issued.

Reportedly, on December 29 of last year Thaksin, accompanied by German escorts, visited an immigration office in Bonn to apply for a one-year residency permit with a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport.

A desk clerk at the office said one of the people on his escort team claimed he had connections with the German intelligence agency, BND. This has led to German diplomats to accuse the BND of engineering the visa.

-- Tan Network 2009-06-08

[sriracha john]

Ministry probes Thaksin's aliases

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is urgently investigating former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's aliases while traveling, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said. Mr Kasit said before making an official visit to Malaysia with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday morning that the government had been closely monitoring the fugitive politician's movement abroad.

The minister said he did not know how many fake names Thaksin was using. After Mr Abhisit claimed that Thaksin was using fake names while travelling, former Thai Rak Thai secretary-general Surapong Suebwonglee said the premier should be more careful and look into the facts before making such allegation.

He said using fake passports and names would not be easy, especially for Thaksin who is recognised worldwide.

Continued:

-- Bangkok Post 2009-06-08

[sriracha john]

[PPP Banned # 12] Surapong Suebwonglee said it was extremely difficult for celebrities, especially former prime ministers, to use fake names on passports or visas.

Surapong Suebwonglee said using fake passports and names would not be easy, especially for Thaksin who is recognised worldwide.

Overheard previously on the streets of London:

"Oh look, Margaret... isn't that the waiter from the Taiwanese restaurant down the street"

Edited June 8, 2009 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Kasit admits probing Thaksin

BANGKOK, 8 June 2009 (NNT) – Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya accepts that he is investigating the fact on the ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's name used in passports case.

Commenting on the speculation previously made by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that the fugitive Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was using other names in his passports to make political movement, Foreign Minister Kasit stated that he was checking the matter. However, he admitted that he did not know how many pseudo names Thaksin was using.

On the other hand, earlier Former secretary-general of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party Surapong Suebwonglee stated yesterday that it was impossible to travel in any country without official documents, and it would be indeed difficult to use pseudo names in passports or visas, especially for a well-known figure and former prime minister like Thaksin.

-- NNT 2009-06-08

[sriracha john]

Kasit admits probing Thaksin

you learn about new personal preferences every day here...

Edited June 8, 2009 by sriracha john

[Sandstone Art]

Kasit admits probing Thaksin

you learn about new personal preferences every day here...

I like the idea of 'probing' him!

[HagenvonTronje]

Overheard previously on the streets of London:

"Oh look, Margaret... isn't that the waiter from the Taiwanese restaurant down the street"

pretty dumb and stupid sound bite. born in a mind set of wannabe 'white superiority'. guess that you can hear in a trailer park somewhere else, where some white trash people can only 'think' of all asian as chinese and are that they are only there to serve food.

most londoner are cosmopolitan enough to refrain from such racist remarks. that supposed to be 'joke' insults them.

btw. london, germany, dubai and so on ...

isn't this thread about the bid on montenegro island? any news on that one?

the dubai case, the passports, the german residents permit. all this topics have their own threads. so here this news are more or less off topic.

[sriracha john]

Overheard previously on the streets of London:

"Oh look, Margaret... isn't that the waiter from the Taiwanese restaurant down the street"

< flaming and blathering snipped >

you forgot to include the photo in the reply you quoted, but that's ok, I fixed it for you.

[sriracha john]

Ex-premier Thaksin may have entered UAE under alias

BANGKOK, June 8 (TNA) - Ousted former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra may have entered the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under another name earlier this year, a senior Thai government official said on Monday.

Panich Vikitsreth, an assistant to the Thai foreign affairs minister, said the UAE government had reaffirmed to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it would not allow anyone to use the country as a springboard to attack another country.

Mr. Panich said that the UAE foreign minister informed him that Thaksin had left the country on April 20.

However, some reports that the former prime minister, ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2006, was seen in UAE, so it is possible that Thaksin had re-entered the country under an assumed name, Mr. Panich said, noting that the UAE is investigating the reported sightings.

Reiterating that the foreign ministry closely watches the movements of Thaksin on a regular basis, Mr. Panich said the UAE government had sent a draft extradition treaty to the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry last month and that Thai officials are reviewing details of the draft, which might take some time.

An extradition treaty with Hong Kong where Thaksin was a frequent visitor is expected to be completed soon, he said.

His remarks were made after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday that Thaksin now travels internationally using aliases, making it more difficult to locate and return him to Thailand to serve his jail sentence.

A Thai court in October last year sentenced Thaksin in absentia to two years prison for abuse of power, for allowing his then wife to bid on a plot of Bangkok land at a government auction in 2003, while he was a prime minister.

Mr. Abhisit said his government had sought cooperation from Interpol to track the ousted premier, but that the problem of Thaksin’s false names remains a complicating factor.

-- TNA 2009-06-08

[Datsun240Z]

If Thaksin has the same mentality as all Thai's, the greedy. He won't bring the country further in development. I think if a Western world rule Thailand, it would look different very quick. The streets would be organised, infrastructure would be better etc.

[sriracha john]

Is 'Sinatra' eyeing a new football club?

Even though we don't know exactly where ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra is based, he is still managing to attract a lot of attention.

While the Thai government has been desperately looking for the man so he can serve his two-year jail sentence, Thaksin was recently caught in the spotlight of the British media over an alleged football club takeover.

Thaksin, who sold Manchester City to the Abu Dhabi United Group for 210 million pounds (Bt11.5 billion) last year, was linked to the Portsmouth football club deal offered by Dubai-based billionaire Sulaiman al-Fahim.

Al-Fahim, a property magnate, was the frontman for the United Arab Emirates' Sheikh Mansour in the Manchester City sale. This time, however, al-Fahim himself bid for Portsmouth.

Though he said he has the money to acquire the club with investment being raised through Falcon Equity, a network of Asian and Mid-East investors, questions are still being asked about the takeover's funding.

"Who is buying Portsmouth?" was a headline in Britain's The Sun tabloid, which noted a "mystery finance company" known as Falcon Equity had been created to seek other "heavyweight investors" for the deal.

The bidding, so far, is doubtful leading to speculation that Thaksin might be one of al-Fahim's financiers. Pairoj Piempongsant was the man who pointed Portsmouth club to al-Fahim. Pairoj, as a senior adviser to Thaksin, also oversaw the Manchester City dealings.

However, al-Fahim has denied that the former Manchester City club's owner was part of the consortium planning to buy Portsmouth.

There may be some grounds to this denial because Thaksin cannot be considered a "fit and proper" person to own an English football club because he was convicted for corruption last October. If the man, dubbed "Sinatra" by fans of the Sky Blues, is really eying another football club he will have to use a nominee - his usual tactic when it comes to business.

This time, however, it may be difficult to do even that. Under the new rules governing the ownership of football clubs, the Premier League will demand to know the identity of all investors and make it available to the public.

After all, league's chief executive Richard Scudamore has said: "We should know and the public should know and the fans should know who owns their club."

Obviously, al-Fahim's bid for Portsmouth will be the first to fall under the policy.

-- The Nation 2009-06-09

[sriracha john]

Germany investigating Thaksin's illegal visa

Germany blacklisted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in December last year, but he was later illegally issued a residence visa, the Foreign Minister's Secretary Chawanon Intarakomalsut said on Tuesday. The German government was investigating who issued Thaksin the residency permit , he said.

Thaksin had no right to it as he had already been blacklisted. The German government was also investigating Thaksin's activities during his subsequent visits to the country, Mr Chawanon said. "The German government has given an undertaking that neither it nor the EU government will interfere in the internal matters of other countries and will not allow anyone to use their countries as a base to attack other countries," he sad.

The Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that Thaksin had obtained a 90-day visit to Germany last northern summer. Then, on Dec 29 last year, he obtained a one-year residency permit in Bonn, where he picked it up in person. It also said that the permit was cancelled on Berlin's instructions on May 28.

Continued:

-- Bangkok Post 2009-06-09

[sriracha john]

Germany rolls back welcome mat for fugitive ex-Thai leader and vows arrest if he returns

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand's globe-trotting, fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra is no longer welcome in Germany and will be arrested if he returns there, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.

The Foreign Ministry was notified about the ban in an official letter from the German Embassy last week, said Chavanont Intarakomalyasut, a ministry spokesman.

"I have been told by the Embassy that if Thaksin enters Germany again, he will be detained," Chavanont told The Associated Press.

The ban strikes another country off the map for Thaksin, who continues to roam the globe with a variety of passports and elude Thai authorities who say they are trying to extradite him.

Britain revoked Thaksin's visa in November 2008, a month after a Thai court convicted him of corruption and sentenced the tycoon to two years in prison. That ban blocked Thaksin from returning to his posh London town house where he had been living in self-imposed exile.

Thaksin's international wanderings followed his ouster in a 2006 coup after six years as prime minister.

The 59-year-old former telecommunications tycoon has been on the run on-and-off since the coup, surfacing most recently in Dubai, Nicaragua, and Liberia in pursuit of investment opportunities.

He has also been spotted playing golf in Bali, shopping at upscale malls in Hong Kong, and on trips to China and Australia.

Thailand revoked Thaksin's personal and diplomatic passports, but he has acquired passports from Nicaragua and Montenegro.

A Thaksin aide said last month he was considering buying a resort island in the tiny Balkan state, despite claims he was short on cash because the Thai government had frozen his assets.

A German Embassy spokesman did not immediately return calls regarding the ban, which the Foreign Ministry said was issued in December.

It was not immediately clear if the ban was prompted by heated political protests that had gripped Thailand in December, which the government said had been stoked by Thaksin from overseas.

Germany placed Thaksin on a "national exemption" list in December that barred him from entering the country, said Chavanont.

German authorities then learned that Thaksin had entered the country using a so-called Schengen visa, traveling by car from a neighboring country, and had received a one-year Bonn residency permit on Dec. 29, said Chavanont.

The visa allows travel between more than a dozen European Union countries that have lifted land border checks.

"The federal government of Germany ordered the Bonn authorities to revoke the resident permit on May 28," Chavanont said.

- Associated Press / 2009-06-09

[Plus]

What about rumors of Thaksin's prostate cancer, one possible reason for staying in Germany?

I bet Montenegro is not at the forefront of cancer treatments.