Thaksin has Nicaraguan passport

By: BangkokPost.com

Published: 16/04/2009

The Nicaraguan government announced it has made fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured) a "special ambassador" and issued him a diplomatic passport.

The announcement was made after the Thai government said on Wednesday it had revoked his ordinary passport because he incited the Saturday rioting which forced the cancellation of the weekend Asean Summit in Pattaya.

Nicaragua said in a statement on Wednesday that Thaksin had been appointed an "ambassador on a special mission" so he could help attract investment to the poor Central American country, reports said.

The passport was issued in January when Thaksin visited the country, and was given to him in February, when he met Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

President Ortega had "asked the foreign ministry to accredit him (Thaksin) as an ambassador of Nicaragua on a special mission, in order to facilitate his efforts to bring investments to our country'', the government statement said.

Thaksin's Thai passport was recalled on Sunday, a day after his red-shirt followers stormed the summit venue at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort hotel.

The government later declared a six-hour state of emergency in Pattaya to allow the evacuation of the Asean leaders and delegates and their dialogue partners from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.