Tuesday November 10, 2009
Ousted Thai premier Thaksin arrives in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok.
"Thaksin is now in Cambodia. He flew in on a special flight and just landed at the military airport," said Khieu Kanharith, Cambodian information minister and the top government spokesman.
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A demonstrator holds a banner with pictures of exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during a rally outside the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok in this October 27, 2009 file photo. (REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom/Files) |
"We are looking forward to learning from Thaksin's great economic experience and we are convinced that his experience will contribute to our country's economic development," he told Reuters.
The former telecoms billionaire is in self-imposed exile after being toppled by the military in 2006 and then later found guilty on a conflict of interest charge. He spends much of his time in Dubai.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made Thaksin an economic adviser to his government and offered him a home in his country.
It was not clear how long he would remain in Cambodia. He is scheduled to give a lecture on Thursday to 300 economists at the ministry of finance.
Thailand's government is outraged at the Cambodian move, not only because it sees Thaksin as a fugitive from justice but because he now has a base across the border from which to organise his campaign to force new elections and return home.
Relations between the two countries were already strained after nationalist elements on both sides sparked a row last year over Preah Vihear, an 11th century temple awarded to Cambodia by an international court but claimed by many in Thailand.
The dispute has caused deadly border clashes.
(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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