Emboldened by a rousing welcome in Cambodia, Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is raising the stakes in his bid for a political comeback by rallying support from just over the border.
About 100 of his red-shirted supporters plan to travel from Thailand by bus or plane to meet Thaksin in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap today, said Puea Thai, the latest incarnation of his disbanded Thai Rak Thai party.
Pursued by the Thai government as a fugitive convicted of graft after his ousting in a 2006 coup, Thaksin is flexing his political muscle in Cambodia and taunting his enemies in the Thai establishment.
The prospect of Thaksin running a political campaign from across the border is spurring protests by the powerful opponents who have fought hard to keep him at bay, pointing to more instability in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.
Royalists aligned with the military, who wear the king’s traditional color of yellow, plan a demonstration of their own on Sunday in Bangkok to denounce Thaksin and Cambodia, threatening to deepen the political and diplomatic impasse.
Speaking in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh yesterday, the billionaire former telecommunications tycoon dismissed attacks by his critics in Thailand as “false patriotism” in a speech to about 300 business leaders that drew strong applause.
It was his first formal address since Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen infuriated Thailand’s government by appointing him as an economic adviser, offering him refuge in Cambodia and brushing off Bangkok’s request to extradite him.
“I feel flattered by the invitation to be [Hun Sen’s] adviser,” said Thaksin, who had been living in self-imposed exile largely in Dubai before arriving in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. “I see a lot of synergy between your country and mine.”
“Of course, not all my compatriots see it that way right now,” he said. “Their domestic political compulsions force them towards false patriotism. Let’s pray they, too, will one day appreciate this partnership for progress.”
As he spoke about 30 protesters gathered outside the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok, denouncing Thaksin and Cambodia.
A Puea Thai member of parliament, Surapong Towichakchaikul, said about 100 of his colleagues planned to travel to the town of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temple complex, today to meet Thaksin. The spat looks set to undermine any attempt by Southeast Asian leaders to project a united front in talks with US President Barack Obama on Sunday in Singapore, the first-ever meeting between a US leader and all 10 members of the ASEAN.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is under pressure to contain the feud, which has also drawn attention to a border where Thai and Cambodian troops have clashed in the past year.
Thailand chairs ASEAN this year, and the regional group’s meeting with Obama will be led by Abhisit, whose coalition government is already on shaky ground.
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