Happy New Year: Thaksin gets his passport back

[buksida]

Thailand has reissued a passport to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin was given his passport back in October because he was "no longer a threat to the country", a foreign ministry spokesman told the BBC.

Mr Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term imposed on him for abusing his powers while in office.

His passport was revoked under the previous government but the current PM is his sister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Since her administration came to power in August it has made no secret of the fact that it wished to reverse the decision, the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok reports.

Mr Thaksin's political adversaries are bitterly opposed to attempts to rehabilitate him, our correspondent says.

News of the new passport emerged on Friday because the government was directly challenged by an opposition Democrat MP in parliament. Earlier this month the government indicated it planned to return Mr Thaksin's passport as "a New Year gift".

The Foreign Ministry spokesman told the BBC the new passport was issued in Abu Dhabi in October but did not confirm whether it had been used yet.

Source: BBC

Further reading and analysis: The Nation

Thought: There goes any hope for peace and stability and the 2012 tourist season along with it.

[hhfarang]

It was only a matter of time with his sister in power.

[Spitfire]

Yes, deftly done......whilst media attention is focused elsewhere, phase 1 of rehabilitation complete.

Inevitable though really, but will be interesting to see what happens next.