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.
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