Coup-ousted Thai premier thanks junta for saving his money

Mar 12, 2009, 8:32 GMT

   Bangkok - Coup-ousted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra Thursday thanked the military for freezing his fortune in Thai banks, thus saving it from unwise investments in stocks.

   'I don't know whether I should condemn or thank the military junta when they froze my assets in Thailand, otherwise I probably would have invested a lot in the stock exchange and lost it,' Thaksin said, in a live televised speech to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong that was relayed on to Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.

   Thaksin, a Thai entrepreneur who amassed a fortune off Thailand's telecommunications sector before entering politics, was toppled by a coup on September 19, 2006.

   'I hope I can get it back too because it's my family's money,' Thaksin said.

   Thaksin was originally scheduled to appear in person at the Hong Kong club on March 2 but he cancelled the press conference after the Thai government expressed an interest in having him extradited from the former British colony to face a jail sentence at home.

   His televised speech to the Hong Kong club focused on the global financial crisis, which he blamed on 'financial wizards' and 'slumbering regulators.' The question and answer session, however, focused on Thaksin's personal circumstances rather than his views on the global crisis.      

   Thaksin has lived largely in self-exile since the coup, most recently fleeing the country in August, 2008, after his ex-wife Pojaman was sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion.

   Thaksin was sentenced to two years in jail by Thailand's Supreme Court for Political Offenders in October, last year, on an abuse-of-power charge.

   From exile he has consistently belittled the sentence, claiming it was politically motivated.

   'The whole world is laughing,' Thaksin said of the verdict. 'I have said before that I will fight it in heaven or hell. I am a fighter.'

   Thaksin has been the central player in Thai politics since 2001 when he and his Thai Rak Thai Party came to power on a platform of populist policies that won them a huge following among Thailand's rural and urban poor.

   Having secured the support of the majority, Thaksin went on to consolidate a monopoly over Thailand's political system by undermining independent bodies, intimidating critics and pushing through economic policies that benefited his family and political cronies.

   He lost the backing of Bangkok's middle class and political elite in early 2006 when he sold his family's shares in their Shin Corp Group to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in a tax-free deal that netting the clan 2 billion dollars.

   Ending months of anti-Thaksin protests, the Thai military toppled Thaksin in September, 2006, and put in place an interim government until an election was held in December 23, 2007.

   During the interim regime, Thai authorities froze the Shinawatras' bank assets worth an estimated 76 billion baht (2.1 billion dollars).

   Although he has denied it, Thaksin is reputed to have plenty of cash abroad, part of which he used to purchase the UK football club Manchester City for 162 million dollars in 2007.

   He later sold the club in 2008 at a considerable profit of 120 million dollars, shortly before being denied a tourist visa to Britain.

   'I just have enough to finance my travelling and my living standards, which is more than 1 dollar a day,' Thaksin said of his current fortune.

   Thaksin's frequent appearances and interviews abroad have been faulted for adding to Thailand's political instability.

   'I wish to see my country back to normal but if you want to (have) clapping hands you need both hands, not just one,' said. 'Both sides need to reach an agreement.'

   Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has urged Thaksin to return to face his jail term, which never was appealed.