Surin said Thaksin's summoning of ambassadors from France, Britain, the United States, Russia and China for meetings at his Thai Rak Thai Party office had created an "irritation" in the diplomatic community.

Diplomats are "confused" by his request to meet a number of heads of governments during his upcoming visits and "concerned" about whether the trip or meetings violates diplomatic protocol, as Thaksin's political future is still uncertain.

"What he is doing is really for domestic consumption," Surin told The Nation in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

"He is not a clearcut former head of government, like George Bush Sr, [Ryutaro] Hashimoto, Lee Kuan Yew or Mahathir [Mohamad]," Surin said.

"Thaksin left the office with tremendous controversy and the dust has yet to settle," he added.

A source told The Nation on Tuesday that Thaksin has sought meetings with European leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, during a planned visit to Europe.

The message was relayed to the ambassadors of at least two European countries during recent meetings initiated by Thaksin's camp, the source said on condition of anonymity.

One of the European ambassadors to Bangkok was "uncomfortable" with the request, the source said.

Thaksin has said earlier this week that the planned trip was a "private visit". No statement was issued over yesterday's report about Thaksin's request to meet European leaders.

"The ministry is not aware of any request but he [Thaksin] may want to meet old friends," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh said.

The British Embassy, however, said the request was under consideration.

Embassy spokesman Ian Proud told The Associated Press the matter was being discussed.

"We're still talking about it with Thaksin's office and with London," he said, adding that Thaksin met on his request with British Ambassador David Fall on Friday to "give us a flavour of what his shortterm plans were".

Uncertainty hovers over Thailand's political future, with the antiThaksin coalition calling for the nullification of the April 2 general election and appointment of a new government by His Majesty the King to oversee political reform.

Besides the current political crisis, concerns in diplomatic and business circles also centre on the future of the government's Bt1.7trillion infrastructure scheme.

UOB Kay Hian Research said that without Thaksin at the helm "it is likely that many of his popular campaigns, including the implementation of the government's Bt1.3 trillion megaprojects within a fouryear period (200609), will not materialise."

 "Even a governmentrelated agency like the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning expressed concern that the political turmoil may delay the projects. [The office] still cannot complete the terms of reference for the mass transit system as it has to be considered by the PM," the research house said in a research note released on Tuesday.

"It is likely that the existing schedule for all contractors to submit the bidding proposals in May and the announcement of winners of the projects in July may have to be postponed. This is in line with our expectation that the masstransitsystem project will not occur within these two years," it said.

While the masstransit projects may be delayed, the defence sector megaprojects are likely to be scrapped because the opening up of the country's military to outside bidders could come at the expense of national security.

Technical issues - such as aftersales maintenance, technology transfers, spare parts, training and code sharing - also complicate the military megaprojects.

  Security officials say such projects should go to bidders from countries with close military ties to Thailand, which may not be the highest bidders.

The Nation