Germany Cancelled Thaksin's One Year Visa

[george]

Stay by Thai ex-premier Thaksin in Germany triggers fury

BERLIN, GERMANY: -- 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.

The Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Thaksin had last summer obtained a 90day visa to visit Germany. Then, on December 29, 2008 in Bonn, he obtained a oneyear 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 His Thai passport has been revoked.

The Sueddeutsche said the discovery that a Bonn immigration office had issued Thaksin a permit triggered interagency suspicions in the German federal government. But neither the Foreign Ministry nor the BND foreignintelligence 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.

-- The Nation 2009-06-06

[TAWP]

He is calling in all his friends, isn't he...

[Mobi]

Well if anyone was in any doubt that most countries would follow The UK"s lead and revoke Thaksin's visas, then they should now be reassured.

It looks like only third world countries, eager to divest him of his billions, will be in the market for visa issuance.

[wayfarer108]

A friend in the German consular community told me that German immigration was led to believe the residency permit was ordered/requested by German intelligence.

[hammered]

If you know the right people in most countries and a little lubricant works well......

Im sure Mauss didnt stress he was working unofficially

Still all good things come to an end.

[Ricardo]

One trusts that DL took his assistants for lunch, after their successful visit to Immigration, and did not merely provide 'lunch-boxes'.

[webfact]

If you know the right people in most countries and a little lubricant works well......

Im sure Mauss didnt stress he was working unofficially

Still all good things come to an end.

Crime Buster Mauss - http://www.werner-mauss.com/index0a55.html

[MHM]

Don't mention the war! I nearly mentioned it but I think I got away with it. Thank God I left my red shirt behind!

[bellachg]

Stay by Thai ex-premier Thaksin in Germany triggers fury

BERLIN, GERMANY: -- 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.

The Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said Thaksin had last summer obtained a 90day visa to visit Germany. Then, on December 29, 2008 in Bonn, he obtained a oneyear 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.

The Sueddeutsche said the discovery that a Bonn immigration office had issued Thaksin a permit triggered interagency suspicions in the German federal government. But neither the Foreign Ministry nor the BND foreignintelligence 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.

-- The Nation 2009-06-06

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is another more illuminating article about this affair:

Thai ex-premier Thaksin uses Rhine refuge (News Feature)

Europe Features

By Jean-Baptiste Piggin Jun 5, 2009, 12:00 GMT

Berlin - 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.

A quick look in Germany's national database of aliens showed no past offences or breaches of visa by the ex-premier. The permit was issued.

The newspaper suggested Thaksin must have originally entered Germany on a 90-day visa arranged by a retired German conservative politician who told immigration staff Thaksin would be informing some interested listeners about the ins and outs of Thai politics.

How long Thaksin enjoyed this pleasant refuge is unclear.

His date of departure was not reported, but the Sueddeutsche said Thaksin had now obtained a diplomatic passport from Nicaragua which identified him as an ambassador with special duties for the Central American nation.

Once discovered, the sojourn triggered major recriminations all the way up to the office of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Rather than arrest and extradite a visiting politician, or else cause offence to his successors by refusing to do so, most self-respecting western nations just shut the gate. No incoming visitor. No controversy.

Merkel's office and the Foreign Ministry pressured the state of North Rhine Westphalia, where Bonn is located, to reverse the blunder and revoke the residency permit as quickly as possible, the Sueddeutsche said.

In Bangkok, the Foreign Ministry said it had not heard of the Bonn sojourn.

'It's very difficult for us to keep up with his visas, let alone his passports,' Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said.

Once again, the news media is scanning the globe for fresh signs of Thaksin, who continues to be revered by Thailand's populist red-shirt movement and to be hunted by the current Thai government.

Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/eur...0HeR580GK&C

This story brings up a number of questions. A lot of people ended up with egg in their faces. The reports in the German papers quoted officials in Berlin as "foaming from their mouths", that is how upset they were when they learned of it. Chalerm has egg on his face because he could not tell the difference between a German passport and a German residency permit. The former German police chief of Bonn who accompanied Thaksin for not knowing that Thaksin was wanted in Thailand to serve a 2 year jail term, or did he know it and if so, how much was he paid not to mention it to the Immigration official? When I present myself here in Thailand for a residency permit I have to bring a letter from the police in my home country. Perhaps police in Germany is just as corrupt as it is in Thailand? The "high profile lawyer" in fact was a former member of the German parliament of the conservative CSU party, same party to which belongs the present chancellor, or at least its Bavarian counterpart. And what about the man who presented himself under a false name, nice company Thaksin is travelling with! Then, the permit was revoked on 29 May this year. Would it not have been more prudent by the germany government to inform the Thai government first and nab him under the extradition treaty? And then how did it happen that nis name was not on the blacklist of unwanted visitors, a bureaucratic mix-up it was said. Or did somebody with influence remove his name for the proper consideration.

Well he is surely on the blacklist now for the Schengen countries, and soon to be admitted Montenegro will not be able to make a difference.

[givenall]

A friend in the German consular community told me that German immigration was led to believe the residency permit was ordered/requested by German intelligence.

Not so intelligent after all

[crocodilexp]

If anything, one must admit Thaksin has major cojones.

Actually managing to cheat & bribe his way to legal residency not in some banana-republic, but Germany of all places... country notorious for strict, clean and unyielding bureaucracy.

I'm sure heads will roll in Deutschland...

Edited June 6, 2009 by crocodilexp

[spaceshipcrew]

In Bangkok, the Foreign Ministry said it had not heard of the Bonn sojourn.

Very typical again

[coalminer]

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.

Does this mean that the "UN PREJUDICED" Thai courts are speeding things up endly and are going to sentence the PAD leaders for their crimes BEFORE they are able to setup a Political Party and run away with Political Amnesty.

Anyone who still believes that sentencing the Shrinawat's by a Thai court was done without prejudice, please join the cue of the believers of the Eastern Bunny ...............

[bf2002]

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.

Does this mean that the "UN PREJUDICED" Thai courts are speeding things up endly and are going to sentence the PAD leaders for their crimes BEFORE they are able to setup a Political Party and run away with Political Amnesty.

Anyone who still believes that sentencing the Shrinawat's by a Thai court was done without prejudice, please join the cue of the believers of the Eastern Bunny ...............

CoalMiner,

Don't worry. Siam is still a highly politically corrupt country. Thaksin is stated a criminal by his home country. The Western governments are not agreeing he is a criminial. They are simply respecting Thailand's internal politics. That is all.

Thaksin's greatest crime was to be rich and not change his citizenship and get the hel_l out...a most unforgivable crime indeed.

Edited June 7, 2009 by bf2002

[webfact]

In Bangkok, the Foreign Ministry said it had not heard of the Bonn sojourn.

Very typical again

which reads - translated from secret code - "of course we have heard about but we didn't tell you..." ???

[HagenvonTronje]

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.

Does this mean that the "UN PREJUDICED" Thai courts are speeding things up endly and are going to sentence the PAD leaders for their crimes BEFORE they are able to setup a Political Party and run away with Political Amnesty.

Anyone who still believes that sentencing the Shrinawat's by a Thai court was done without prejudice, please join the cue of the believers of the Eastern Bunny ...............

CoalMiner,

Don't worry. Siam is still a highly politically corrupt country. Thaksin is stated a criminal by his home country. The Western governments are not agreeing he is a criminial. They are simply respecting Thailand's internal politics. That is all.

Thaksin's greatest crime was to be rich and not change his citizenship and get the hel_l out...a most unforgivable crime indeed.

And it was not "abuse of power". He was cleared of this charges..

He was found guilty of violating articles 4, 100 and 122 of the National Counter Corruption Act

The "crime" was that his wife bid the most for a piece of land on an auction by the Financial Institutions Development Fund and the purchase the land.

But that law, the National Counter Corruption Act, prohibits state officials to conduct business with state agencies. That prohibition applies also to spouses of 'State officials' and any activities carried out by the spouse shall be deemed as the activities carried out by the State official.

The court found that Thaksin knew about the purchase by his wife and because he is a state official, he was ruled guilty for 'conflict of interests'.

The crux of the matter of the matter was ' did Thaksin know it?' the court said yes in a 5 to 4 decision..

The knowledge about the purchase made him guilty Article 122 of the National Counter Corruption Act, an violation that shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding sixty thousand Baht or to both..

So Thaksin got a a two-year sentence of possible three years in jail. compare this to other 'crimes' were you can get jail up to 10 years and/or a fine from Bt20,000 to Bt200,000, if found guilty.

The purchase of the land in itself was not ruled as anything wrong or faulty. Just Thaksin double role as state official and spouse of someone who did business with state agency was the violation of the law.

Thaksin and Pojaman were accused of violating Articles 152 and 157 of the Criminal Code. Only accused and not found guilty after the court decision.

That Thaksin got his residency permit for Germany revoked is just a diplomatic gesture. German official want avoid some possible conflicts. That Thaksin got the resident permit in the first place, actually not much wrong with that. But there is Jürgen Koppelin, a backbencher of the FDP (liberal democrat party, in opposition in the parliament), who tries to make a 'big scandal' of it.

[animatic]

If anything, one must admit Thaksin has major cojones.

Actually managing to cheat & bribe his way to legal residency not in some banana-republic, but Germany of all places... country notorious for strict, clean and unyielding bureaucracy.

I'm sure heads will roll in Deutschland...

Or is just naturally amoral and could care less about what is right or wrong,

and only about what he can get away with doing vs the cost of doing it...

This latter fits his M.O. pretty tightly.

Thaksin got the Germany residency permit under false pretenses,

that's enough to ban his re-entry in most countries.

In his mind he likely believes, or wants to, that he is not convicted,

or wanted by Thailand, since is isn't REAL in his opinion,

so he said no on the papers he HAD to have signed.

Self serving delusions must play into this latest episode, added to greed and hubris.

And maybe an over-weening need to be accepted by the 'big boys club' of world leaders.

He seems to REALLY want to be a world wide player, not JUST considered a small country Asian dilettante.

And this all points to why he was removed from power....

(I don't hate him, I just think he is dangerous for Thailand,

because he can't stop himself in his manipulative power hungriness.)

Edited June 8, 2009 by animatic

[Plus]

The crux of the matter of the matter was ' did Thaksin know it?' the court said yes in a 5 to 4 decision

Voting on key points of the historic verdict

9-0 - The 1999 anti-corruption act is effective.

9-0 - Appointment of Assets Examination Committee is constitutional with authority to investigate cases.

9-0 - Financial Institutions Development Fund, the land seller, is a government agency.

6-3 - The prime minister has oversight of FIDF.

5-4 - Thaksin Shinawatra violated the 1999 anti-corruption act.

7-2 - Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra is not guilty and her arrest warrant will be cancelled.

7-2 - The Ratchadaphisek land plot and transaction money will not be confiscated.

9-0 - Thaksin is sentenced to a two-year jail term.

The Nation

[rinpoche]

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.

Does this mean that the "UN PREJUDICED" Thai courts are speeding things up endly and are going to sentence the PAD leaders for their crimes BEFORE they are able to setup a Political Party and run away with Political Amnesty.

Anyone who still believes that sentencing the Shrinawat's by a Thai court was done without prejudice, please join the cue of the believers of the Eastern Bunny ...............

CoalMiner,

Don't worry. Siam is still a highly politically corrupt country. Thaksin is stated a criminal by his home country. The Western governments are not agreeing he is a criminial. They are simply respecting Thailand's internal politics. That is all.

Thaksin's greatest crime was to be rich and not change his citizenship and get the hel_l out...a most unforgivable crime indeed.

Thaksin's other crimes include:

1. Keeping his books open and being too "showy" for his own good.

2. Running a real government with long-term objectives - something not seen in Thailand for a long time.

3. Turning his back on his cronies before neutralising them.

4. Developing Thailand's hinterlands instead of just doing high profile charity work, pissing off the urban elite.

[Plus]

Thaksin's legacy also includes keeping his provinces two-three times poorer than provinces run by opposition party.

[Journalist]

Thaksin's greatest crime was to be rich and not change his citizenship and get the hel_l out...a most unforgivable crime indeed.

True. Locals who become tycoons are well-advised to get all their money out into an offshore account, to reduce domestic investments, and never develop political aspirations. Then when rich enough, disinvest totally from their home country and go and live in Hawaii.

[animatic]

I think his books are likely quite opaque,

but he certainly flaunted his cash and power BIG TIME.

And made no bones about aquierring more of each, any way he could.

Using his same long term pattern of making friends and profiting on them,

before burning them when they become liabilities or simply disagree with him.

[jayboy]

Thaksin's legacy also includes keeping his provinces two-three times poorer than provinces run by opposition party.

What a silly comment.You might as well say Mahathir's legacy was "keeping" the bumi Malays two-three times poorer than the Malay Chinese -i.e ignoring the fact he transformed the bumis' prospects.

Provinces in NE and North didn't belong to Thaksin.He and TRT earned their loyalty.These were of course the poorer provinces long neglected by the ruling elite, but to be fair they had many disadvantages relating to climate and geography not to mention history.I'm not for a moment suggesting wickedness or prejudice , just benign neglect.While the gap remains there has been substantial improvement.How much was attributable to "populist" policies is for debate.These populist policies of course continue under the current government although on a scale much greater than under the TRT and its successors.Thaksin, now completely marginalised, but is responsible for the reality ( and for whatever motivation ) that the traditional neglect of the poorer parts of the Kingdom is now unthinkable.

[hammered]

Thaksin's legacy also includes keeping his provinces two-three times poorer than provinces run by opposition party.

What a silly comment.You might as well say Mahathir's legacy was "keeping" the bumi Malays two-three times poorer than the Malay Chinese -i.e ignoring the fact he transformed the bumis' prospects.

Provinces in NE and North didn't belong to Thaksin.He and TRT earned their loyalty.These were of course the poorer provinces long neglected by the ruling elite, but to be fair they had many disadvantages relating to climate and geography not to mention history.I'm not for a moment suggesting wickedness or prejudice , just benign neglect.While the gap remains there has been substantial improvement.How much was attributable to "populist" policies is for debate.These populist policies of course continue under the current government although on a scale much greater than under the TRT and its successors.Thaksin, now completely marginalised, but is responsible for the reality ( and for whatever motivation ) that the traditional neglect of the poorer parts of the Kingdom is now unthinkable.

I think your point is well made in this particular area. Thaksin has also maybe been a catalyst for a lot of other changes. I would guess that we have a fair while to wait before we can really see the extent of the changes - both good and bad - made/catalysed by the period of Thaksin-TRT rule. At some point it will become a very important area of study of Thai history imho. I would also guess that the historical anaysis will be very heavily propogandized by both detractors and supporters of the TRT experiment. Having sadi that quite how it will be written is still up in the air as is maybe even Thaksin's marginalization unless rumours of his late stage cancer are indeed true.

[Plus]

Provinces in NE and North didn't belong to Thaksin.He and TRT earned their loyalty.

Thaksin, yes, his party MPs - no. Areas owned by the likes of NAP and Rassadorn simply merged with Thaksin's party, and are still controlled by the same people.

You can argue that Thaksin made their development a national agenda, but the reality is that local development is the work of local politicians, and Democrats are better at it than TRT.

[webfact]

Germany 'blacklists' Thaksin

By The Nation

Published on June 10, 2009

Germany has blacklisted fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and vowed to arrest him if he enters the country with a resident permit that was issued illegally, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday.

Chawanon Intarakomarasut, secretary to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ministry had obtained a letter from the German Embassy explaining the situation.

Chawanon said, according to the embassy, the German government had put Thaksin on its "national exemption" persona non grata list in December last year, following his repeated phone-in addresses to anti-government rallies by his supporters in Thailand.

It was found later that Thaksin carried a resident permit to stay in Germany.

The German embassy explained in its letter to the foreign ministry that given the federal government's ban, the permit was considered illegally issued. Thaksin had not formally informed the federal government about his trip to Germany and its authorities were investigating the matter.

"In addition to rescinding his Schengen visa [for travel in European Union countries], Germany also cancelled Thaksin's resident permit," said Chawanon.

"The German authorities said they and the EU governments will not allow any individual to use their countries as a base to attack another country. They also said that if Thaksin returns to Germany, they will detain him," he said.

-- The Nation 06/10/2009