But has he really had enough of politics when he has hired two major American public relations firms to manage his image and his standing in the international community?

The PR firms are Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR) and Edelman.

BGR, founded in 1991, is a well-known PR and lobbying firm. Its website says its lobbyists have served in the White House, Congress and executive agencies, as well as in gubernatorial, congressional and presidential campaigns. They help clients to implement public policy at domestic and international level.

BGR also advertises itself as being "effective at stopping or changing harmful policy before it can take effect".

Its clients include Fortune 500 companies, international governments, trade associations, academic institutions, hospitals, coalitions, and state and local governments.

According to a document dated November 10, 2006, from the Secretary of the US Senate, BGR registered itself as a lobbying firm. It named Thaksin Shinawatra as its client. Thaksin's address in the filing document was Mayfair in London. BGR filled in the general description of Thaksin's business or activities as "to promote democracy in Asia".

The specific lobbying issue of BGR was to "provide and counsel with regard to Mr Thaksin's interests in Washington DC and abroad".

So what kind of interests does Thaksin have in Washington DC? The Surayud Chulanont government is monitoring Thaksin's foreign activities closely by anticipating that he might use the US and Europe as bases to attack it and create broader sympathy for his cause.

But diplomatic sources believe Thaksin is not likely to find sympathetic ears among people in the White House, Congress or other institutions because of his bad record in human rights and other abuses during his premiership.

The Thai government has been disturbed by Thaksin's move to use Singapore, apparently with the approval of the city-state's authorities, to attack it through an interview with CNN and the Asian Wall Street Journal. This has ignited a diplomatic row between Thailand and Singapore.

On Tuesday, Thaksin also launched an offensive against the Surayud government by suggesting in an interview with the Japanese press that the Thai people would not tolerate military dictatorship for too long. Japan was more cautious than Singapore in handling Thaksin and denied him official recognition.

Thaksin has been attempting to create an international image that he was an elected leader removed unconstitutionally by a military coup, that he had done so many good things for Thailand and that without him Thailand has gone off track.

Asked about the impact of Thaksin's attempt to discredit the military leadership and the interim government, Prime Minister General Surayud Chulnanont said yesterday: "Nobody would like to see the political change as has happened. If the elected government practised good governance then there would not be any problem at all.

"If there were good governance then it would not be necessary for military intervention. This is the main point. No matter how the governments come into being, if they practise good governance and stay away from conflict of interest, they can create trust and credibility in the long term.

"If we have leaders who have good governance, then the country can survive."   

Korbsak Sabhavasu, a member of the Democrat Party, revealed that the relationship between Thaksin and BGR dated back to 2001 during his first year in office as prime minister. Then Shin Satellite, a subsidiary of Shin Corp, hired BGR to help it lobby the Senate, the House of Representatives and the US Export and Import Bank to facilitate a low-interest loan to support the launch of IPStar.

Korbsak indicated that BGR served Shin Satellite between 2001 and 2003, earning about US$160,000 (Bt5.62 million) in service fees.

Korbsak's website shows a registration form which Thaksin signed with BGR. The key executives of the firm are lobbyists Robert Blackwill (deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser) and Walker Roberts (deputy chief of staff, House International Relations Committee). Both are influential in US politics.

The International Herald Tribune reported on January 19 that Thaksin had hired PR firm Edelman, which has bases in Chicago and New York, to help arrange meetings with the press. He is represented in Washington by another public relations firm.

"We are working with him in his capacity as a private citizen and supporting some media outreach to support his efforts to return to Thailand," the newspaper quoted Alan VanderMolen, Edelman's vice president for the Asia-Pacific, as saying.