Thailand’s top court will rule tomorrow on the fate of Thaksin Shinawatra’s US$2.2 billion fortune, threatening fresh unrest in a country still riven by the fugitive former prime minister’s influence.
Supreme Court judges will decide whether the government should seize Thaksin’s assets from the sale of his family’s telecommunications company, which were frozen after a 2006 military coup that toppled him from power.
The country’s anti-graft commission says Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, became “unusually rich” by abusing his power after becoming prime minister in 2001 and must forfeit his wealth.
The run-up to the judgment has left the country on edge, however, with fears that the “Red Shirt” movement with links to Thaksin could resort to violence if, as expected, the verdict does not go his way.
Up to 35,000 police and soldiers have been ordered to secure Bangkok and provinces where Thaksin is popular, while guards have been assigned to protect the nine judges dealing with the case, the government said.
“Police have increased forces in Bangkok, including setting up more checkpoints and CCTV cameras to monitor the situation,” metropolitan police spokesman Colonel Piya Utayo said. “We will not block protesters from coming to Bangkok if they protest peacefully. Police will take responsibility for security and can request help from the army.”
Last week, police defused a bomb near the Supreme Court and a grenade exploded near government offices, leading the US, British and Australian embassies to warn their citizens to exercise caution in Bangkok.
Thaksin was ousted after months of protests over the January 2006 sale by his family of 49.6 percent of the shares in his Shin Corp telecoms giant to Singapore’s Temasek for 73.3 billion baht (US$2.2 billion). The funds were frozen the following year and the government is now seeking to take control of them.
Thaksin is living in self-imposed exile, mostly in Dubai.
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