Gen Sonthi mends fence with Thaksin

 Sonthi said the telephone call was arranged by a mutual friend and took place before Thaksin's wife Khunying Pojaman returned to Bangkok on January 8.

"I won't say in details what we talked about but I can say most of our conversation was the exchange of greetings and did not touch on political negotiations," he said.

He defended his September 19 coup as deemed necessary at the time although he respected the people's judgement as shown by the election outcome.

"The coup was not a waste," he said, shrugging off the fact that many ousted politicians have returned to power.

He said he had no plans to enter politics and dismissed speculation that he might accept a ministerial position in the next three months.

"If I am to join the government, the people would look at me curiously because they don't know who or what I am," he said.

 He said he was satisfied with the performance of the interim government though would leave it up to the people to render their judgement on its legacy.

He said the armed forces were well disciplined to serve under the elected government, ruling out the naming of the defence minister as an issue.

He said he was in no position to predict a repeat of the coup as he already retired from the military service.

"In my opinion, the coup could not have happened without the public support," he said.

The Nation