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Published on July 14, 2007

At least, Noppadon Pattama, Thaksin's adviser, hinted that Thaksin was not called Frank for nothing by humming the song "My Way", which Frank Sinatra made famous, during a seminar on Thursday on "Maew City: Real or a Decoy?"

Thaksin has a unique reason for taking over Manchester City football club. Malcolm Glazer took over Manchester United to expand his sports empire, while Roman Abramovich, once an obscure Russian businessman, bought Chelsea because of his passion for football. But Thaksin does things his own way.

First, the City takeover does not seem to make good business sense for him. Thaksin's flagship businesses were not in the sports field and he has not been known to be a loyal sports fan. He once even proudly showed a Manchester United jersey with his name on it before shifting to Real Madrid. Thaksin also floated the possibility of starting a lottery so that he could acquire Liverpool when he was still prime minister.

Yet, just when everyone thought that Thaksin would bow out after the Assets Examination Committee decided to freeze his assets, he struck back with a vengeance by placing a bid worth more than Bt5.5 billion to buy City in May. From that moment on, Thaksin became Superman in the eyes of some of his followers.

The possibility of making a profit from a mediocre football club in one season is a long shot, but that did not seem to hinder Thaksin from wanting to become the first Thai to own a club in the Premier League.

City may not yet have a full squad but Thaksin knows that he is already chasing the ball down to the penalty box. Having attained demigod status by owning a football club, Thaksin refuses to go quietly.

Who needs a full cabinet to attend to if you can entertain the British elite in City's lavish private boxes? Thaksin, as the former prime minister of Thailand, may have gone unnoticed among the crowds of the Harrods shoppers. But as City's new owner he has a chance to be in the same league as politicians, media tycoons and top businessmen.

Running an English football club is not Thaksin's area of expertise. However, there are certain similarities to his old businesses that Thaksin may find helpful. First of all, it is all about money. The league is monopolised by the richest clubs: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Manchester City's chances of climbing up the premier league order from 14th place, where it finished last year, do not look good. City's new manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, even confessed that he would need at least 10 new signings this season; four strikers, two wide players, a central midfielder, a goalkeeper and two defenders. In short, virtually the entire squad is useless.

But those factors didn't seem to scare away Thaksin, who is close to taking over 75 per cent of City shares soon.

In fact, Thaksin has other big plans for the club. He might still have no idea who else he is going to sign, but he knows which singers he will bring to England during an event on August 14 for Manchester City's season opener. Noppadon said Thaksin plans to bring at least 10 Thai entertainers, including Mai Charoenpura, to perform during the event.

Noppadon didn't rule out the possibility of asking City football stars to endorse made-in-Thailand products, the same way Thaksin planned to put Michael Owen's image on Otop products when he was considering taking over Liverpool.

Thaksin's Liverpool deal fell through, but it still made more business sense than his Manchester City takeover thanks to the brand loyalty of the team and its international fan base. Manchester City meanwhile has been running at a loss for seven consecutive years. The team last won a championship roughly three decades ago.

Manchester City is the arch-rival of football juggernaut Manchester United. Despite its much smaller size, City has commanded more loyalty from locals than United. The Gallagher brothers of the rock band Oasis are among the club's followers. When Manchester City was demoted to the third-tier football league a decade ago, the team still attracted around 20,000 fans every week. However, it is not clear if English football fans are the audience that Thaksin wants to connect with.

Thaksin will still be visible in Thailand, as he will be seen regularly on ESPN and sports channels. Although some British MPs have started to question his qualifications to own City, Thaksin has apparently gained the sympathy that he needs from British fans, who could not care less about corruption allegations against him in Thailand. Owning the club will give Thaksin a ticket to superstardom, despite how far away he is.

The sweetest revenge of all would be the possibility of City beating Abhisit Vejjajiva's favourite Newcastle United again in the final to reprise the greatest era in Manchester City's history, when the club beat Newcastle in the final of the League Cup in 1976.

Jeerawat Na Thalang