Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra last night appealed for an opportunity to spend the last days of his life in his motherland.
"I don't want to die outside of Thailand. I want to return to die in my country. I don't want to return as bones and ashes," he said during a broadcast of his Internet-based radio programme "Talk around the World".
Thaksin also offered to serve Thailand in any role, not necessarily as prime minister.
"Please let me know what you want me to do. I can still benefit my country very much without being prime minister," he said, adding that he could set up a fund consisting of hundreds of billions of baht contributed by his wealthy foreign associates.
The fugitive ex-leader, whose government was overthrown in the September 19, 2006 coup, described the ongoing political conflict as a fight between the ruling Democrat Party and the opposition Pheu Thai Party, with the red shirts and the yellow shirts as their respective allies.
In his call for reconciliation, Thaksin compared Thailand to a ship in a storm.
"If the ship can survive the storm and reach the shore, everyone aboard will be safe," he said.
Thaksin said while at sea, people aboard the ship should avoid fighting, or else the ship could run aground or hit underwater rocks.
He also accused Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda and Army chief General Anupong Paochinda of interfering with politics, which he said had led to the "ongoing severe damage to the country".
