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Published on July 24, 2007

Thaksin was speaking at the official launch of his book, "Thaksin's 24 Hours After the Coup", at the Hong Kong Book Fair 2007.

The book, co-written with three Chinese authors, details the events leading up to his fall from grace. It tells of his suspicions as he boarded the plane to New York for his UN address. He says he underestimated the Army and was surprised an "upright" person like him would meet such a fate.

Published in Chinese by the News Corp-owned cable-TV station Phoenix, the 10,000 first-edition copies will be sold mainly in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

At the fair, the former premier urged the interim government to work harder to bring peace and stability.

For the first time, Thaksin commented on the Asset Exa-mination Committee's freezing of his assets. He told Taiwan's China Times that this was politically motivated. Since he was ousted in a coup, the former PM has been charged with concealment of assets, tax evasion and abuse of power.

According to his legal aides, Thaksin is likely to return to Thailand on August 14, primarily to "fight for his reputation". But a source familiar with the litigation said he would immediately return to London once he had testified before the court.