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Southeast Asia
Toxin 'may have sneaked out assets'
2006-09-25
Thailand's former prime minister may have secretly taken some of his vast assets out of the country aboard two aircraft just days before he was removed from power, airline officials have said. Thaksin Shinawatra set off for Finland on a foreign tour on September 9, loading up his government-assigned aircraft with 58 large suitcases and trunks, an official from Thai Airways International said on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

The prime minister's aircraft, named Thai Koofah, was then left parked in Finland for more than a week as Thaksin continued his trip on other transportation. Another aircraft carrying 56 suitcases - an Airbus 340-600 - was dispatched from Bangkok to meet the prime minister just days before the coup, the official from the national carrier said. The official said it was not known what was taken aboard the second aircraft because only Thaksin's aides were allowed to supervise the loading.
Posted by:Fred

#10  NS, it's generally accepted that rigged votes ended in Thailand in 1992.

Can we bring in some of their people to run the elections in our cities?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2006-09-25 11:55  

#9  Must have been some extra pairs of socks and underwear. Looks more like a long stay in London.
Posted by: danking_70   2006-09-25 11:49  

#8  Thanks.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-09-25 09:50  

#7  NS, it's generally accepted that rigged votes ended in Thailand in 1992. The number of votes for Thaksin's party were almost identical in 2005 and 2006. In both cases he won in all regions with a large majority, except Bangkok and the South.

The boycott in 2006 merely translated votes for other parties into spoiled ballots. It was clearly a disengenous attempt to obscure the fact the opposition parties would lose the election (by a large margin).

Wikipedia has the numbers.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-09-25 09:41  

#6  Thaksin won huge majorities in both 2005 and 2006 elections, in both cases with over 60% of the vote.

phil_b, I read elsewhere that this was the result of vote suppression protests as in Venezuela. Do the election results really reflect his popularity or are they a result of a rigged election?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-09-25 08:40  

#5  Thaksin came by his billion plus legally. There is no reason to launder or smuggle legally obtained wealth. As I said, it's ridiculous smear to suggest he would.

And as for the amount of luggage, I'm sure President Bush keeps to a 20 kilo luggage allowance and his bags are loaded by the regular baggage handlers at JFK or LAX (/not).

Thaksin wanted to modernize Thailand while taking care of the rural masses. He made a lot of enemies, especially among the urban elites.

A glaring ommision in all the coverage is that Thaksin won huge majorities in both 2005 and 2006 elections, in both cases with over 60% of the vote.

The urban elites hate him most all because they think they should be running the country. Thaksin mobilized the numerically superior rural vote and swamped them at the ballot box.
This is their revenge.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-09-25 07:58  

#4  Toxin 'may have sneaked out assets'

And now his assets somewhere else.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-09-25 05:43  

#3  The notion he would need to smuggle assets out in suitcases is ridiculous.

Gold? Gems? Drugs?

Lots of small, portable forms of wealth. Yeah, most would have gotten out through bank deposits, but even Imelda had her shoes.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2006-09-25 05:28  

#2  He was a billionaire before he became Prime Minister. The notion he would need to smuggle assets out in suitcases is ridiculous. I don't doubt he has already has many millions in offshore banking centres.
Posted by: phil_b   2006-09-25 02:18  

#1  I never had 58 suitcases of anything. What does this guy have? hmmmmm?
Posted by: newc   2006-09-25 00:46  

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