So, what's the deal with Bahamas?

Hubert Ingraham

At the moment, nobody is quite sure about their whereabouts. Some say they are headed for Dubai because Thaksin has good relations with the United Arab Emirates' government. After all, he did sell his football club to billionaires from Abu Dhabi.

But then again, reports were heard yesterday that Bahamas' Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham had offered Thaksin a deal - he could form a government-in-exile and demand justice over the revocation of their British visas. Reports say that Ingraham granted Thaksin an honorary citizenship.

Thailand's INN news agency quoted sources as saying that officials from the Bahamas' foreign ministry had been assigned the job of helping the ousted PM explain himself to the world and getting the world to recognise his so-called "government in exile".

On Monday, INN quoted a report from the Bahamas ZNS TV channel saying that Ingraham wanted his officials to look for ways of assisting Thaksin, and claimed that the leader was not happy with Britain's revocation of the Shinawatras' visas.

Earlier reports suggested that Thaksin had purchased land on Bahamas' New Providence Island and that he was looking for more investment opportunities in the country. Delighted by the huge injection of money, the government reportedly considered issuing Thaksin and family Bahamas passports.

Thai media, quick to pick up anything on Thaksin, has been crediting the Nassau newspaper The Tribune and ZNS.

However, there are a few niggling questions, like does the government of Bahamas really care about Thaksin? Plus, we can't contact any of the sources for verification - The Tribune is not on the Net and ZNS' website is being upgraded. What's even more surprising is that there are no reports on the Internet about Bahamas ever taking Thaksin under its wing.

Of course, we all know that the former PM is great at promoting himself. In fact, before he was ousted in 2006, he had hired Washington-based PR firm BGR Holdings to "guide" him. Then he became a client of the Bell Pottinger Group, which is owned by Lord Timothy Bell - the man most deposed leaders and exiled billionaires turn to when they need an image makeover.

This time, one can't help but admire Thaksin for doing a superb PR job.