Sorting out the truth from news plants about Thailand’s convicted fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra will be a big part in the next phase of this saga. Seeing that almost anything that comes from Thaksin’s mouth is opposite the truth, it becomes a game of who said it.
Reading some news stories about Thaksin, some make sense and others are unsubstantiated. One of the stories that has surfaced in the last few days is the United Kingdom also decided to lock down $4 billion of his money for some classic Thaksin shady dealings while in the UK.
Connecting the Dots feels this is not a fact but a plant by Thaksin himself. Consider this, the story goes Thaksin was forced to sell Manchester City football club because the UK locked down his money. The facts as Connecting the Dots sees is that Thaksin was about to get the boot because he had just been convicted. That conviction would not let him be owner because of the ‘Fit and Proper’ rule for club owners. So Thaksin concocted this ‘pity me’ story for his lesser educated Isaan supporters to make it appear he was yet again a victim. To sell Manchester City for any other reason would be an admission he was wrong to his loyal lesser educated followers. Connecting the Dots still has it’s doubts that Thaksin has completely divested in Manchester City, however at the moment it is not an issue.
With the cancellation of Thaksin’s red diplomatic passport, It leaves him with fewer places he can go. Essentially he is becoming the next Gary Glitter who was eventually forced back home to the UK after being denied entry in other countries because of his convictions. According to Thaksin’s son, his father has a wad of passports. Whether that is true or not is almost irrelevant, Thaksin’s status as a fugitive potentially will deny him entry under any passport. This is also because Thaksin chose not to just melt into the woodwork. If it was sit down and shut up, he still may have his UK visa, but who is to say.
If Thaksin’s wad of passports are all Thai, then a blanket cancellation of all passports should cover it, and that should leave him with few options as where to go. And most certainly will put a huge dent in his style. If he is offered the chance to stay in another country, then more than likely that country will place strict conditions on him such as no political activity. You can use your own imagination as to how that will go down with Thaksin.
Then there is the issue of Thaksin’s available funds. It is a fair guess that Thaksin’s net worth has taken a hit based on investments along with everyone else. How much is hard to say as he only filed a Thai tax return for what he had in his pocket at the moment and made no mention at all of his billions. That puts more of a cramp in his style and the unusually rich legal proceedings he is going under is hitting him even more.
However Thaksin’s arrogance and his psychotic crusade will make him continue. Very simply his ego will not let him stop, so this is not the end of Thaksin. This is only a snapshot in time looking at today. Without a doubt, next week there will be more.
