Thai ex-premier Thaksin to make third visit to Cambodia this month

Thaksin's first visit to Cambodia was on 10th November, 2009.

Thaksin to visit Cambodia again

Robert Carmichael,
Radio Australia
Phnom Penh

Relations between Cambodia and Thailand will be tested again by another visit to Cambodia by Thailand's fugitive former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Thaksin will visit Cambodia later this month.

A spokesman says the visit is related to Thaksin's appointment late last year as an economic adviser to the Cambodian Government.

But many observers see Thaksin's appointment and repeated trips to Phnom Penh as part of a political game being played out by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has little patience for the current Thai administration.

It is highly likely Thaksin will meet members of his red-shirt opposition during his stay.
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Phnom Penh - Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra this month is to make his third visit to Cambodia since being named a government adviser as ties between the two nations worsen, local media reported Thursday. Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Thaksin's visit, which comes at a time when Thaksin's supporters in Thailand have vowed to escalate anti-government protests there, was "not strange."

"Thaksin coming or going out of Cambodia is a normal thing," Hor Namhong said, according to the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

Thailand's Supreme Court is to decide February 26 whether the state would seize 2 billion dollars in frozen bank accounts in Thaksin's and his family's names, a pending decision that has heightened political tensions as Thaksin's supporters were expected to escalate their efforts to topple the Thai government before their leader risks losing his fortune.

Cambodian foreign affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said Thaksin's arrival date and the duration of his stay remained unclear, adding that the former premier would visit in his role as economic adviser.

"We don't know the clear programme exactly, but normally, as an economic adviser, he would [work on tasks] relevant to economic affairs," Koy Kuong told the German Press Agency.