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Thaksin would like to create the impression that he is staying in Dubai. But Dubai might not want to welcome him anymore. China and Hong Kong do not want to court trouble either by allowing him to enter their territories. Most other countries that have relations with Thailand are reluctant to play host to him because of his political activity.

He would like to return home as a hero and a victor, but that prospect is now almost zero. He cannot turn Thailand upside down. He has much less money than before. And money cannot buy everything. His friends and supporters are deserting him.

Thaksin now has to plan his movements carefully because he cannot stay in countries that have an extradition treaty with Thailand. So he will be hopping around to unfamiliar places like Panama or Papua New Guinea.

With the UK revoking his visa, Thaksin can no longer enter any Commonwealth countries. Singapore is caught in the same dilemma of not wanting to welcome Thaksin again. What would be the US response if Thaksin were to apply for a visa to enter the US?

His diplomatic passport has also been revoked. This passport, given only to present and past prime ministers and foreign ministers for life, allowed Thaksin to travel to any country without a visa. But that privilege has now been denied.

The Foreign Ministry was quick to act earlier this week when it was clear that the Democrats were settling into power. Thaksin's support base in the bureaucracy, police and Parliament is crumbling fast. The Thai authorities are now determining whether they will revoke his normal passport altogether.

Asked about the revocation of his father's red passport, Panthongtae Shinawatra said earlier this week that his father was carrying several passports with him and that he was not sure which country he was in now because he had no plan to visit him yet.

Thaksin has lost money in the global financial meltdown. Rumours have been swirling for some time that he has lost in oil-futures trading. Oil futures rose from US$80 (Bt 2,760) to $90 before hitting $160 per barrel. Now the future contracts are trading at $45 a barrel. That could have wiped out more than half of his staggering assets.

All investors in the capital and financial markets have been burnt badly or gone bankrupt in the adverse market conditions. Thaksin is probably no exception. He thought that his investments would be safe with portfolio diversification. But Long-Term Capital Management, the super hedge fund, went bankrupt in 1998 in adverse market conditions even though it thought it had balanced all of its positions.

Thaksin is known to be a big gambler. He does not know how to lose or how to concede. He maintains a winner-takes-all attitude, which he brought with him into the business world and politics. He is now suffering from the boomerang effect. He thought that his wealth and political fortunes would rise forever. Now the financial markets and politics have gone against him.

He might also run into trouble with the UK authorities due to his dubious financial transactions, probably one of the reasons that his visa was denied. Thaksin bought Manchester City Football Club for more than £80 million (Bt4.3 billion) and sold the club to Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi for £210 million. That deal raised the eyebrows of the British authorities. What was "Sinatra" trying to do? That prompted them to take a careful look at his financial dealings.

Arabianbusiness.com has recently revealed that the UK froze Thaksin's assets amounting to $4 billion. "The UK froze his reputed $4 billion of assets, forcing him to sell Manchester City to Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour. To add to his troubles, his UK visa was revoked - oh, and his wife divorced him last week," the Arabianbusiness report said.

Strangely enough, nobody followed up on this story to either confirm or deny whether Thaksin's $4 billion has been frozen by the British authorities. That is no small amount. It is almost Bt140 billion, more than the stimulus package that new prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva plans to pump into rural areas during this time of economic hardship.

Writing his opinion piece, "Bhumibol, Thailand's Remarkable King", in the Los Angeles Times of December 11, W Scott Thompson also confirmed that Thaksin's assets had been frozen by the UK authorities. He wrote: "Meantime, the British have frozen Thaksin's assets in Britain and revoked his visa. So Thaksin's other asset - his rural popularity - can only decline."

Thaksin's dubious financial transactions and his two-year jail sentence in Thailand were the two main reasons, in that order, that led the UK authorities to revoke his visa.

With his dwindling assets overseas, Thaksin's wealth now largely lies in Thailand. But his Bt76 billion, about $2 billion, is frozen by the Thai authorities pending corruption charges against him. Thaksin is fighting fiercely to get this money back, which was earned from the sale of Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore. But again the prospect of getting this money back is slim, with his "unusually rich" case going to court.

His wife, Pojaman, has divorced him. She knows all the financial details. They agreed to separate, at least tactically, so she can keep a portion of the wealth for herself and their children. Thaksin will use the rest of the money mainly to finance his political comeback.

Without any family obligations, Thaksin now has nothing to worry about. He can do things his own way. He has repeatedly sent out the signal, "Don't push me into a corner."