The end of the road

I see that ex Prime Minister Thaskin is going to seek political asylum in the UK.

The move will come as no surprise to most people.Thaksin fled his native country for the second time after failing to appear in the latest corruption trial and with it lost an estimated $385,000 in bail bonds.He claimed that his life was in danger and that the courts in Thailand were rigged against him.

Thaskin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and accused of corruption relating to the sale of the Shin Corporation,a telecommunications company that he and his family started before he went into politics.His career as Prime Minister of Thailand was dogged by allegations of corruption.

The middle classes of the country turned against the populist prime minister whose basis of support was the rural masses who saw him as the champion of the poor.But as well as corruption his tenure in office was marked by an escalation of religious violence in the south of the country, a war on drugs where he was accused of taking the law into his own hands as well as the tax free windfall.
When the army intervened,few took to the streets to protest against the removal of democracy.

He has left a reported $2.3m in frozen assets which will no doubt interest supporters of Manchester City.These were the proceeds of the Shin sale.

This move will probably be the end of his political career.The mood in Thailand is angry,especially his accusations about the authenticity of an independent judiciary.There were demonstrations in Bangkok last week demanding his return.