THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL & AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK
Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will arrive in his private jet at Suvarnabhumi airport tomorrow morning, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama confirmed yesterday.
Mr Noppadon said Mr Thaksin would issue a statement outlining the details of when his jet will arrive.
According to Mr Noppadon, Mr Thaksin is now in Beijing.
Meanwhile, state legal and security agencies were preparing for the arrival of the former prime minister, who has lived in self-imposed exile for almost 17 months since the Sept 19, 2006 coup.
The team of public prosecutors in charge of the alleged abuse of power case against Mr Thaksin and his wife, Khunying Potjaman, is seeking advice from Attorney-General Chaikasem Nitisiri on whether to oppose Mr Thaksin's bail request when he arrives.
Upon arrival, Mr Thaksin is expected to turn himself in to face the case, related to the 772-million-baht Ratchadapisek land deal, at the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.
The Supreme Court issued arrest warrants for Mr Thaksin and his wife in August last year after the couple failed to appear for the first hearing of the case.
Nanthasak Poolsuk, chief of region 8 appellate litigation prosecutors and a member of the prosecution team, said that after Mr Thaksin surrendered to the Supreme Court, the court would ask for the prosecution team's opinion on his bail request before ruling on whether or not to grant it.
''I was unofficially informed that Mr Thaksin plans to ask for bail with a requested condition that he would be allowed to go abroad for business trips,'' he said.
Khunying Potjaman was granted bail by the court after she returned from Hong Kong in late January but she was prohibited from going abroad without court permission.
Mr Nanthasak's team has not yet decided whether it will oppose Mr Thaksin's bail request.
Mr Nanthasak said that after Mr Thaksin turns himself in to the Supreme Court, investigators at the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) will have the authority to take him into custody as a suspect for allegedly concealing his ownership of shares in SC Asset Corporation Plc.
Mr Thaksin will ask for bail in this case as well.
Newly-appointed DSI acting chief Pol Col Tawee Sodsong yesterday held a high-level meeting to prepare criminal cases related to Mr Thaksin, especially the SC Asset charges.
Pol Col Thawee said once Mr Thaksin returns to the country, he must surrender to the DSI to fight the SC Asset case.
He has met with his deputies to set a venue for Mr Thaksin to report himself on arrival. It could be either the new DSI building or the old one. City police chief Aswin Kwanmuang yesterday ordered tight security for Mr Thaksin.
