FM has “no comment” on exiled ex-Thai PM

BANGKOK, February 29 (TNA) - Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai says he has “no comment” on an upcoming speech to be delivered by exiled ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the World Policy Institute (WPI) in the United States. Stressing that he did not want to spend too much time on domestic politics, as Thailand has to move forward and there are so many things to accomplish, Don told journalists on Monday that his ministry had earlier reacted on Thaksin, so had Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha, Army Chief General Teerachai Nakwanich and several other prominent authorities. Asked whether his ministry would order Thailand’s consulate officials in New York to attend the upcoming WPI discussion, the minister stated that the issue has not yet been discussed. WPI has announced on its website that Thaksin will be a speaker at the private discussion, set on March 9. Based in New York, WPI's objective is to build a collaborative network focused on developing constructive solutions to global policy challenges. Ousted in a military coup in September 2006, Thaksin fled into exile ahead of a 2008 conviction on a conflict of interest charge, but he was later sentenced in absentia to two years in jail by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders and has lived in self-exile since then. (TNA)