Time for Thaksin to face the music

After lying low and staying out of sight — presumably to lick the wounds inflicted by the Medical Council of Thailand (MCT)’s ground-shaking ruling on May 8 regarding his controversial stay at the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital — former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra re-entered the public foray on May 27 with a vengeance.

- Veera Prateepchaikul

Thaksin — whose term in power was tainted with a bloody war on drugs — was invited to give a talk on narcotics to senior police at the Office of the Narcotics Control Board. This was done in his capacity as an adviser to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chair of Asean. The invitation was extended by Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong, a staunch Thaksin supporter.

Apparently, the event was choreographed to give the former prime minister an opportunity to refute the widespread rumour that he had skipped out of the country ahead of a hearing set on June 13 by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The much-anticipated probe aims to find out if its eight-year jail term imposed on Thaksin, reduced to one year by a royal pardon, was fairly enforced by the Corrections Department before his release.

Therefore, the talk on narcotics was just a sideshow. During the event, Thaksin floated a radical idea, typical of his iron-fisted approach towards drugs.

He said if the Myanmar junta failed to crack down on drug labs near the Thai border area in Myanmar, which is currently being held by the United Wa State Army, an ally of the Myanmar junta, Thailand should take the matter into its own hands by launching incursions to destroy those labs.