Thaksin's case different from Pin"s : former envoy

The Office of the Attorney-General and the Foreign Ministry should quickly set up a joint body to seek the extradition of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife to Thailand, former ambassador Kasit Pirom said.

Kasit, now a member of the opposition Democrat Party and a deputy premier of the shadow Cabinet, told The Nation in an exclusive interview that UK legal experts should also be hired to work with the Thai team to bring the couple back to Thailand for trial.

Thaksin and his family are now in exile in the UK after jumping bail on Monday. The former premier and his wife are currently regarded as fugitives.

"The Thai legal team of state attorneys and Foreign Ministry experts need to inform the UK authorities of the extradition case urgently," said Kasit, a former Thai ambassador to Washington DC, United States.

"The Thaksin case is rather different from the previous Pin Chakkaphak case [in which extradition from the UK to face charges in Thailand has been unsuccessful in the past decade].

"There are solid criminal cases pending against Thaksin in the Thai courts whereas charges against Pin [a former finance company chief executive accused of violating banking and finance laws] were not yet in court.

"More importantly, the Thaksin cases involve alleged corruption and abuse of tax money by a public office holder. The charges are more serious and substantial."

On Thaksin's August 11 statement that he could not trust the Thai justice system, resulting in his decision to flee, Kasit said the former premier's argument was weak. He said Thaksin himself had already appointed several defence lawyers to fight cases while also filing many lawsuits against his critics in the Thai courts.

Meanwhile, a senior official at the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) said yesterday that Julasing Wasantsing, deputy attorney-general, and other senior public prosecutors will be appointed to a working group to follow up on the extradition case.

Given that the court had already issued arrest warrants for Thaksin and his wife for hearings in the Rachadaphisek land case, the OAG will examine if an extradition request fits with the 1911 Thai-UK extradition treaty.

"We'll also look at the issues of political asylum and related laws," said the source, adding that Thaksin and his wife had reportedly sought asylum status with the UK government by claiming that their cases were not criminal but "political" offences.

The couple's lawyers also have asked the UK court not to send them back to Thailand, so this will further complicate Thailand's bid for extradition.

On the travel documents currently held by Thaksin and his wife, Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag said the ministry had yet to be notified officially of the matter by the court before the passports could be revoked.

The court has already |confiscated bail money amounting to a total of Bt13 million placed by the couple's guarantor.