Like it or not, a comic book with ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a hero for the poor is hitting bookshelves across the country.

In the 212-page comic, "Thaksin's Life", ends with the clear hope that the former premier will return one day to resume his unfinished mission - to help the poor.

The book is sold for Bt150. Some 5,000 copies have been printed, but sales to date have been rather flat.

"It has been on sale for days, but its response is not so good," comic-book author Posatorn Butr-anan said.

Posatorn said she wrote the book because of her admiration for Thaksin. She also hoped against hope that pro-Thaksin people would buy her book.

A cartoonist helped turned Posatorn's stories into the comic book.

"Thaksin's Life" comic book chronicles the life of 57-year-old Thaksin, a tycoon-turned-politician, until his dramatic fall from power in the bloodless coup on September 19. Currently, Thaksin is living in self-imposed exile in London.

"Thaksin's mission to help the poor people is not over," a grandfather tells his grandson in the book.

"I believe this hero for the poor will not leave the poor behind. I believe he will come back," the old man says when the young boy asks if Thaksin would ever come back as prime minister again.

One of the nine chapters tells how Thaksin, one of Thailand's richest men,

lifted poor farmers out of poverty by injecting money into the rural economy

with a government loan scheme.

Thaksin was well liked in the North and Northeast thanks to populist policies such as the health scheme that allows every Thai to receive medical treatment for just Bt30 per visit.

"For the rich people, my populist policies mean very little, but for the poor, they mean a lot," Thaksin says in the comic book.

During Thaksin's five-year rule the annual income of farmers, who account for roughly 60 per cent of Thailand's 64 million population, jumped more than 60 per cent to Bt52,320 on average.

But in contrast to his solid support in rural Thailand, Bangkok was the scene of months of mass anti-Thaksin protests earlier this year over alleged corruption and abuse of power - controversies that eventually led to last month's coup.

Agence France Presse,

The Nation