Thai Government Seeking International Help In Capturing Thaksin

[Ricardo]

PHNOM PENH: -- Yesterday was the first time Thaksin Shinawatra had come so close to Thailand since he fled the country about a year or so ago. He landed in Phnom Penh at the controversial invitation of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Yet the hero's welcome, the embraces and the elaborate "family" photograph he took with the Cambodian elite may have pushed several issues well past the point of no return.

<snip for brevity>

-- The Nation 2009-11-11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

Can anyone suggest why Hun Sen might have wished to frisk Thaksin on arrival ?

The FACT of the matter is that Thaksin OVERWHELMINGLY won TWO elections. By all accounts, he would do so again if given the chance.

Perhaps not quite "by all accounts".

The PPP got about 40% of the popular vote, at the last election, in December 2007. Since when we have seen not one, but two (!), ineffectual governments from the PPP, Thaksin's conviction by the courts in the first of his several cases, the events of Red Songkran, Thaksin accepting an appointment from his old friend Hun Sen, and the Times Online interview.

I would suggest that, quite apart from anything the Democrats may have done to show that they too can help the poor, the popularity of the latest Thaksin-nominees will have been damaged by the events listed above.

So to state that his nominees would now win overwhelmingly is surely optimistic in the extreme. The PTP would still be a significant minority-party IMO, but just what percentage they might now win, will only be demonstrated whenever there is another election.

[it is further revealing that reports this morning of his directing his lawyer Noppadon to sue Times Online for defamation. Old habits are hard to break.

The traditional One-Billion-Baht press-suppression law-suit rears its ugly head yet again ? Whatever happened to those amusing little paddle-bats (cross for a bad question & tick for a good one) which generated such mirth in the past ?

[rixalex]

Whatever happened to those amusing little paddle-bats (cross for a bad question & tick for a good one) which generated such mirth in the past ?

Don't know but they sure would have come in handy when he met Parry...

[webfact]

Hun Sen: Thaksin is my economic adviser, he could not be sent back

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that his government had rejected Thaksin's extradition request because former PM Thaksin Shinawatra is economic adviser to him and his government, an apointment approved by the Cambodian king.

Speaking to reporters in a press conference, Hun Sen read out a statement, detailing why the Cambodian Foreign Ministry handed back Thai documents submitted to seek Thaksin's extradition.

Thaksin was also present at the press conference.

He also handed out the copy of the statement to Thaksin who was seated next to him.

The Cambodian authority referred to Article 3 of the Extraction treaty between the two countries which prohibits extraditing a person for a political offense.

-- The Nation 2009/11/11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[webfact]

THAI EXTRADITION ATTEMPT

Bangkok regrets Cambodia's refusal : Abhisit

By The Nation

Thaksin should have realised that he had caused problems between Thailand and Cambodia.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday he regretted Cambodian government did not adhere to the international laws by rejecting Thai request to send ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra back to serve two-year jail term.

Thai Foreign Ministry will however re-submitted the extradition request to Cambodia soon.

Abhisit was speaking after Thai officials of Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh submitted extradition papers to Cambodia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday only to be handed back the documents.

"Thai government will review more mutual cooperations following the incident. We will restrict more on border crossing to prevent people from crossing to gamble in casinos on the Khmer soil," he said.

However he said he wanted to insist that there would be neither closure of the border nor use of force.

Thaksin should have realised that he had caused problems between Thailand and Cambodia, Abhisit said.

Commenting on reports that Hun Sen refused to extradite Thaksin because he did not trust Thai justice system, Abhisit said Hun Sen may be misinformed.

Abhisit also reiterated that the problem could be solved on a bilateral basis and it would be escalated to Asean forum.

-- The Nation 2009/11/11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[Insight]

Abhisit also reiterated that the problem could be solved on a bilateral basis and it would be escalated to Asean forum.

-- The Nation 2009/11/11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

Not only is Abhisit refusing to give Thaksin / Hun Sen the angry reaction they're hoping for, he's also offering to resolve the issue in the meeting they're both desperately trying to disrupt.

Wonder what their next move will be?

[nosatisfaction]

Isn't he in Cambodia?

The whole world knows he is now Consultant to the Cambodian Government.

Maybe they are smarter and , for once, can F..K him up like he did here.

Good Interpol is so very active.

nosatisfaction

[nosatisfaction]

I don't think Interpol can arrest anyone, can they?

Interpol is an office working only on information. They are part of police but not active in way of arresting,by the way I don't see why they would need Interpol since everybody knows "Mr" Thaksin is in Cambodia.

nosatisfaction

[nosatisfaction]

I don't think Interpol can arrest anyone, can they?

Unless there is special jurisdiction, which is rare, it would take a extradition order from the Cambo courts to make him leave, once legally there.

I wonder if he will start sneaking across the boarder through the jungle like the criminals in that boarder areas.

Is that what they call boarder runs?????????

[321niti123]

I don't think Interpol can arrest anyone, can they?

And what you think go happen if they arrest him...? Do they really wish to have an uprising here in Thailand..not forget how many follow him ....

I think he lost a lot of his support after he agreed to work for cambodia.

We already know that not only the yellow shirts but the reds also are against cambodia's claims for the pra vihear temple, so thaksin would be viewed by most thais as a traitor. Not only has he lost support for siding with the enemy, he has also lost support because of that interview (the times one) about changing the structure of the monarchy, thais read that and their love for thaksin is gone. Thais love their king and will stand by him no matter what.

Oh and even though thaksin has apologized (i heard in the news yesterday) saying that it wasnt intentional but no Thais will know about it because for a lot of thais their news comes from other ppls mouths, and an apology is not juicy enough to be talked about.

[chuang]

The appointment of Thaksin as an economic adviser is approved by the Cambodian King, so extraditing back to Thailand, isn't it an act of Lese Majeste in Cambodia

[LawnGnome]

The praise for Obama has been overwhelming on ThaiVisa. Obama is a man, not a God. I simply voiced a different opinion. Irrelevant? Yes. But, it seems that no matter what the topic Europeans have to bring in their praise for Obama and hatred for Bush and he rest of the U.S. It gets damned old!

The hate for Thaksin is getting old too, don't you agree? Or is that different from the hate for Bush. Taking into consideration that Bush did a lot more bad to the world than Thaksin.

Actually, my hate for Thaksin is quite fresh and lively.

[webfact]

Army confirms healthy Thai-Cambodian military ties

BANGKOK, 11 November 2009 (NNT) – The army has confirmed a peaceful situation at the Thai-Cambodian border and good military ties between troops of both countries, according to Army Spokesperson, Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Colonel Sansern stated that the Thai-Cambodia border situation remained peaceful, while people in both countries were living and trading normally. He added that the army would operate normally as Army Chief, General Anupong Paochina, had not made any specific orders following the stance of the government since there was no need to create more tension.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is now in Cambodia to attend an economic conference on 12 November 2009. He was recently named economic advisor to the Cambodian government and private advisor to Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen.

The spokesperson announced that the government would deal with the prevailing situation in regards to Mr Thaksin. He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be responsible for seeking extradition of the ousted prime minister for legal trials in Thailand, and the army had nothing to do with this issue.

In addition, Colonel Sansern informed media that troops and border residents of both Thailand and Cambodia would have a sporting activity to enhance a stronger relationship. He said both sides always had healthy ties and had been arranging activities promoting relationships from time to time, while troops of both sides were protecting their sovereignty as usual.

-- NNT 2009/11/11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[rixalex]

One can well imagine, how Thaksin's brother-in-law (PM-Somchai) might have wished to find a face-saving solution, and so decided upon the "spineless action" (surely a little harsh ?) of allowing him to go watch the Olympics for a few days !

If i remember correctly it was the court that had the authority and the one that gave him permission to effectively abscond, not the government. I guess it's feasible to think the government might have interfered, although the fact that Somchai couldn't interfere in terms of getting his brother-in-law off scott free, suggests he had limited influence.

[reallyok]

PM Abhisit: Thailand sending Thaksin extradition request to Cambodia

BANGKOK, Nov 10 (TNA) - Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday that Thailand will formally submit to Cambodia a letter seeking the extradition of convicted ex-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra after he entered the neighbouring country.

The Thai premier commented as Mr Thaksin arrived in Phnom Penh Tuesday morning at the invitation of the Cambodian government which appointed the convicted ex-Thai premier as its economic adviser.

Mr Abhisit said that the Office of the Attorney-General has given the letter seeking the extradition of Mr Thaksin under the extradition treaty between the two countries to the Ministry of Foreign affairs and it will be sent to Cambodia once Mr Thaksin's address there is identified.

"We have to find exactly where Mr Thaksin is staying in Cambodia and how many days he will stay there," said Mr Abhisit, "If the Cambodian government does not respond to our request, the foreign ministry will consider appropriate measures."

Regarding the Cabinet's decision to revoke the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on overlapping maritime boundaries signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2001, the Thai premier reasserted that the revocation has resulted from the appointment of Mr Thaksin as economic adviser for the Cambodian government.

Mr Abhisit however said the cancellation of the MoU will only take effect once the matter is forwarded to the parliament for consideration under Article 190 of the Constitution.

"The government has carefully and thoroughly considered the revocation of the MoU because the issue can be argued," said Mr Abhisit. "I reaffirm that the cancellation applies only on the overlapping maritime boundaries, not the contested areas around the Preah Vihear temple as being circulated in Cambodia to stir confusion."

Mr Abhisit stated that the Thai government has made no move along the Thai-Cambodian border or near Preah Vihear temple.

Regarding Mr Thaksin's interview with the online edition of the British daily The Times of London which is deemed as offending the monarchy, the Thai prime minister said he has instructed the foreign ministry to clarify the facts with local as well as international media and has assigned a legal team to scrutinise the content as to whether it is considered a violation of the lese majeste law. (TNA)

-- TNA 2009/11/10

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

Seeing as how his conviction was brought about by an illegally coup formed military government and that his party has since been re-elected but denied government. I should think that any sane foreign government would rightfully be just a little cautious to become involved in the requests from any Thai organisation along these lines.

[reallyok]

The praise for Obama has been overwhelming on ThaiVisa. Obama is a man, not a God. I simply voiced a different opinion. Irrelevant? Yes. But, it seems that no matter what the topic Europeans have to bring in their praise for Obama and hatred for Bush and he rest of the U.S. It gets damned old!

The hate for Thaksin is getting old too, don't you agree? Or is that different from the hate for Bush. Taking into consideration that Bush did a lot more bad to the world than Thaksin.

Actually, my hate for Thaksin is quite fresh and lively.

Had he been deposed in a legal election, i might have felt the same as you , but a COUP !! c'mon on !!!

It should be a people majiority decision and thats the end of it.

[IMA_FARANG]

1. Interpol can arrest fugitives....as long as a proper arrest warrent is presented.

2. Because Interpol relies on the assistance of the countries they operate in, in practice they usually will only arrest a fugitive with the agreement of the country. I doubt Cambodia will agree.

3. I expect the Cambodan courts will contest the extradition...and they will delay it for years on technicalities.

4. I'm sure Thaksin is far from "broke".

5. Trying to "sneak" into Thailand would be cause for arrest. If anyone knew were he was in Thailand, the governmet and the police might be willing to pay a lot for that info.

6. If he tries to leave Cambodia....say a flight to Hong Kong....he could be detained at the airport in Hong Kong....before he enters the country legally. That, of course, would depend on the Hong Kong authorities....which in practical terms means the Chinese government giving at least tacit approval.

7. If #6 did occur....maybe a few trade concessions to China by the Thai government'....could help.

8. Thaksin has a lot of support in Thailand, but he is also disliked by quite a few.

9. Any disruption of civil disobedience/rioting might the give some factions in the army an excuse to react....think C word.

10. All in aill, it could be interesting times ahead,

[TAWP]

Seeing as how his conviction was brought about by an illegally coup formed military government and that his party has since been re-elected but denied government. I should think that any sane foreign government would rightfully be just a little cautious to become involved in the requests from any Thai organisation along these lines.

You clearly have no respect for facts.

Please, moderators, could we have these nonsense-posts removed? They serve absolutely no purpose but run the risk of confusing idle readers.

Or, wait, that might be the purpose. And knowingly posting false facts...well...and let's not forget, critic of the court IS illegal here in Thailand and that is in effect what this post is. A long slander on the court-system, based on misunderstanding/misinformation/fan-dome.

I'm just so tired of this.

reallyok>> The government doesn't judge in court-cases. Thaksin's own proxy-government ruled after the coup's first election. Get things right or GTFO.

[TAWP]

1. Interpol can arrest fugitives....as long as a proper arrest warrent is presented.

Interpol is NOT a global police-organisation with worldwide authority. They are an information and cooperation network (with their own personel with no special authority on the ground) and can only ask the local police to act upon their information.

[awd]

It's "The Ghost of Thaksin" vs "The Ghost of the Coup". Which ghost will win? Only time will tell.

[jayboy]

Seeing as how his conviction was brought about by an illegally coup formed military government and that his party has since been re-elected but denied government. I should think that any sane foreign government would rightfully be just a little cautious to become involved in the requests from any Thai organisation along these lines.

You clearly have no respect for facts.

Please, moderators, could we have these nonsense-posts removed? They serve absolutely no purpose but run the risk of confusing idle readers.

Or, wait, that might be the purpose. And knowingly posting false facts...well...and let's not forget, critic of the court IS illegal here in Thailand and that is in effect what this post is. A long slander on the court-system, based on misunderstanding/misinformation/fan-dome.

I'm just so tired of this.

reallyok>> The government doesn't judge in court-cases. Thaksin's own proxy-government ruled after the coup's first election. Get things right or GTFO.

Reallyok abbreviates and simplifies rather too much.I certainly wouldn't express the position in quite that way at all - at least without a host of caveats, but in all essentials he is bang on the money.What is more his view is backed by a great many Thai and Foreign historians and political scientists.Naturally there's a different analysis which can be articulated, and of course you are completely at liberty to make an alternative argument.Some on this forum have made a rather good stab at doing so though I don't usually agree with them.However it's quite unacceptable for you to call for censorship of views you do not agree with, let alone attempt to marginalise as "nonsense posts" a view of Thai politics which is actually among the intelligent and well educated liberal leaning pretty much mainstream.And frankly if one is to take the patronising position of advising "confused idle readers", I would politely suggest to them that they take with a pinch of salt any post ending with "Get things rights or GTFO" since this rather strikingly reveals the knowledge and sophistication of the writer.

[Ricardo]

One can well imagine, how Thaksin's brother-in-law (PM-Somchai) might have wished to find a face-saving solution, and so decided upon the "spineless action" (surely a little harsh ?) of allowing him to go watch the Olympics for a few days !

If i remember correctly it was the court that had the authority and the one that gave him permission to effectively abscond, not the government. I guess it's feasible to think the government might have interfered, although the fact that Somchai couldn't interfere in terms of getting his brother-in-law off scott free, suggests he had limited influence.

Thank you, you're right, I stand corrected.

If not even the PM can get his brother-in-law off, it does indeed suggest that the courts are more impartial, than some might have us believe. Quite right too !

[Scott]

I have gone through and deleted many, many posts. Those that are clearly off-topic, for example about the US government, Obama and Bush are gone, as are replies and comments about them.

Posts which do not use the correct name of politicians--especially Abhisit and Thaksin--and insist on using derogatory spellings of them have also been deleted. So, if you want your post to stay, then please stay on topic and use the correct name. I might add that some posts responding to those posts have also been deleted.

I will now be going through and deciding about posting suspensions.

[otherstuff1957]

Quite frankly, the courts letting him flee was the smartest thing they could do. If Thaksin was imprisoned the Red riots would make Songkran look like a tea party. Thaksin twittering and flying about may drive them crazy, but they should remember that his impulsive and compulsive scheming is always his downfall. For example, he went to great lengths to avoid paying taxes on the Shin Corp/Temmasak deal (changing the laws, secret offshore accounts, shell companies, etc.), and he was pretty much successful. But look at what that extremely devious deal lead to: the Coup!

I suspect that this Cambodian deal is going to turn out the same way. He may get some promises from Hun Sen (casino and oil concession, for instance), but the backlash may very well cost TRT/PTT/PPP/Whatever dearly in the next election. The govt. should just remember that Thaksin is ultimately his own worst enemy & let him go his own way.

[imaneggspurt]

Dont forget that Pol Pot died of natural causes in his retirement home in Thailand, they are as bad as each other,.

[mahtin]

Dont forget that Pol Pot died of natural causes in his retirement home in Thailand, they are as bad as each other,.

Extra-judicial killings are not quite in the same league as genocide.

[Yoshitaka]

If Pol Pot really died of natural causes in his retirement home in Thailand (something I cannot confirm). Why Thai government did not sent him back to Cambodia before he died?

[TAWP]

Reallyok abbreviates and simplifies rather too much.I certainly wouldn't express the position in quite that way at all - at least without a host of caveats, but in all essentials he is bang on the money.

No, he isn't abbreviating, he is factually wrong and posting the wrong conclusions from this confusement. I do however understand why someone from your leening would try to paint it in a way you do.

What is more his view is backed by a great many Thai and Foreign historians and political scientists.

A great number of Thai and Foreign historians has a view of the facts in the case that isn't coinciding with reality, you say?

I doubt it. We all have our reasons too think like we do, but we also have a right to not bu subjected to factually incorrect garbage, as it muddles the process for anyone that is trying to make up their mind.

If you (a person, not You) cannot get basic facts right, you probably cannot assembly a coherent, reasonable and well thought-out position on the situation at hand.

And frankly if one is to take the patronising position of advising "confused idle readers", I would politely suggest to them that they take with a pinch of salt any post ending with "Get things rights or GTFO" since this rather strikingly reveals the knowledge and sophistication of the writer.

I'm not advising any idle readers, I am saying that those that doesn't have the facts at hand will trust the facts written and sometimes the facts get muddled by things stating the complete opposite. Why is this dangerous? Because people have a tendency to 'take the middle ground'. So if someone says '2500 people where killed' and 5 posters then, in their red rage, post that it was all done by the gangs themselves (as Thaksin claims) and the number of innocent is zero, without knowing the background of the posters the reader will lean towards '2500 sounds like a dramatically inflated number, look how upset these other posters are, claiming basically 0', and he might think there was a handful cases.

This is known in the political camps and strategies used during election times in the west (bulletin boards, canned 'reader submissions' et al) and something that should be countered.

Yes, I think the news-section Should enforce some form of censorship - if you want to call outright lieing some form of right - as the news-sections only credibility is in the accuracy of the news (yes, yes, I know) and the factual and high spirited debates around them. When it goes south into a flame-fest, too many one-liners etc it detracts from the brand-value of TV. And the value for any reader goes down. (With exception perhaps for some of us posters that like to argue anyway.)

And if you are able to judge anyone's knowledge by their usage of the term 'GTFO', then I applaud you. Maybe you can become the next economical adviser to Cambodia.

[waza]

Hmmm I agree, there seems to be a lot of posters changing facts and history to muddy the waters. Those that follow Thai politics know the truth and find it insulting to read the deliberate lies.

[Nacho]

Taksin was illegally removed from office in a military coup while he was attending a conference overseas.

I didn't see any coup leaders being charged!

Also his party won 2 elections after the coup, and then they were thrown out in another coup, and replaced by the Democrats. The current government is totally illegal and has no right asking interpol to catch anyone.

Taksin is up to something. I fear the worst for this country if he is arrested!

Taksin dissolved parliament and held a snap election which was boycotted, and the seats didn't get filled at the beginning of parliament causing it to break down as per the Thai constitution.

He said he would step down when he had a successor. He was not the prime minister when the coup happened, only the caretaker. He didn't run for parliament again after that and didn't win any elections after the coup. Members of his former party may have won where he was the in the back seat, but Newin and his cronies switched sides in support of the democrats after the PAD incidents. So what is illegal about the current government? Every member of parliament has been democratically elected. The only thing that has changed is parliament members

allegiances. They were all voted for by the Thai citizens.

[Yoshitaka]

Now the government cannot use the standard excuse: "We don't know where Thaksin is".