Thailand's ex-PM Thaksin offered role as adviser to Hun Sen

Nov 5, 2009, 2:26 GMT

   Phnom Penh - Cambodia has formally offered Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra a position as an adviser to the government and to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

   The annoucement, which was made late Wednesday on national television, is likely to annoy Bangkok following weeks of verbal spats between the two nations over Thaksin.

   Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan told the German Press Agency dpa Thursday that the reason for the offer was that the country needed skilled people like Thaksin.

   'Mr Thaksin is well-known and very successful in business,' Phay Siphan said. 'We consider him as a good quality human resource for Cambodia, and we need people from every corner of the globe to build this country.'

   Phay Siphan said it was 'premature' to say whether Thaksin had accepted the roles or whether the positions would be salaried.

   The relationship between the two countries has been tense for more than a year, and relations cooled further at last month's Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Thailand when Hun Sen said Thaksin would be welcome in Cambodia.

   Thise remarks drew a frosty response from Thailand, which said it would apply for his extradition should he turn up in neighbouring Cambodia.

   Phnom Penh then said that Thaksin's two-year sentence by a Thai court for abuse of power was politically motivated, and it would not extradite him should he take up the offer.

   Thaksin, who was overthrown in a bloodless coup in September 2006 and is disliked by Thailand's political elite, has been living in self-imposed exile. He remains popular with the rural poor due to his populist economic policies.