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The government is ready to arrest fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra if he enters Thailand, travels across the Thai border or flies over the country's territory, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban warned on Monday.

Mr Suthep urged Thai people to call on Cambodian government advisor Thaksin to return to Thailand to fight his corruption charges so problems in the country would end.

On Thaksin's trip from India to Cambodia on Nov 19, Mr Suthep said the flight had already asked Thailand's permission to pass through the country. However, the government was not aware that Thaksin was on that flight.

"If the government knew that Thaksin was on the plane, we would notify the flight operator about a fugitive passenger on the plane and it would not be permitted to pass through," he said.

Thaksin did not fly across Thailand when he left Phnom Penh on his private jet on Saturday.

The deputy prime minister, who is in charge of security affairs, also thanked Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his offer to be a mediator to resolve the Thai-Cambodian row.

"I would like to thank the Indonesian president for his generosity, but this is an issue between two countries and the government does not want to raise it to an Asean level," he said.

16/11/2009
Bangkok Post