Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra can "come home,"
but it would be better for him to wait until martial law is lifted,
Thai interim Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtat said in Bangkok on
Sunday.
Boonrawd was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying that
ousted ex-premier Thaksin is welcome to return home "as a Thai
citizen" but it is better that he should wait until martial law,
imposed following the Sept. 19 coup, is lifted.
It is up to Thaksin himself to consider whether it is
appropriate for him to return to Thailand now and whether his
return could "severely stir the waters," Boonrawd was quoted as
saying.
However, he said both Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and
Gen.Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, chairman of the Council for National
Security (CNS), will also have to consider whether national
security could be threatened if Thaksin returns now.
The deposed premier is now staying with his family in an
apartment in London.
Surayud Saturday told journalists that Thaksin had telephoned
him and asked to return to Thailand. Surayud said he had told
Thaksin it was the right of all Thais to return to their homeland
but the timing must be right and details must be discussed among
the concerned parties.
"It's better to wait for the martial law to be lifted," said
Boonrawd, adding that Thaksin will have to wait until that day, and
that concerned officials will have to discuss the issue first to
determine whether it is appropriate for him to return home.
Meanwhile, Air Force chief Marshal Chalit Phukbhasuk, also
deputy chairman of CNS, said he personally believed that martial
law could be lifted within the next one or two months if everybody
fully cooperates in solving the problems facing the country.
Chalit told journalists after holding talks with the prime
minister and Gen. Sonthi on the possibility of lifting martial law
that several factors, including internal peace, would have to be
taken into consideration before Thaksin is allowed to return
home.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2006)
