THAILAND: The family of a British man given a life sentence in Thailand for drugs offences welcomed him home after his conviction was quashed. 

There were emotional scenes at London’s Heathrow Airport as Jody Aggett was greeted by his five-year-old son, Ryan, his parents, Lorna and Tony, and his twin sister, Tammy. Mr Aggett’s Thai girlfriend, Ramphia Lo, gave birth in jail after she was sentenced alongside Mr Aggett following their arrest in 2001.

The couple decided to send Ryan home to his grandparents in Swindon, Wiltshire, and Tuesday was only the second time that the little boy has met his father.

Mr Aggett was jailed for life in 2003 after his sentence was commuted from the death penalty originally imposed.

He had been staying above a travel agent’s in Bangkok with Ramphia Lo, known in the family as Kristin, when they were both arrested. Mr Aggett’s parents said the couple were allowed to stay rent-free if they opened and closed the shop each day but the agency’s owner, unbeknown to them, was manufacturing Ecstasy in the building.

The couple were advised to plead guilty but refused and his family have been campaigning, along with Fair Trials Abroad, for their release for six years.

On Tuesday, Mrs Aggett said she would be welcoming her son home by “surrounding him with lots of family love” as well as a barbecue, beloved in her native South Africa, and an ice-cold beer.

“Jody has been our strength throughout all of this and Ryan has been such a great comfort because every time I saw him I saw a little bit of Jody and Kristin.”

She said she would “always admire and love” Kristin for allowing the little boy to be sent to the UK.

Mr Aggett, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, looked tired and drawn after his long flight. He told waiting reporters that he had never expected to see freedom: “In that court I was expecting the same sentence again.”

INDIA – India blamed Islamic militants based in Pakistan and Bangladesh for twin bombings that killed at least 42 people in the south, and a top government official acknowledged that his country was struggling to stop terror attacks. 

“Our country is so big that even if we have the information that something is planned we do not know where or when,” Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.

He did not say if authorities had any advance warning of Saturday’s blasts, which killed 42 people in Hyderabad. They were the latest in a series of deadly bombings in India in the last two years that have killed hundreds in India’s capital, its financial center and Hinduism’s holiest city, among other cities.

Officials blame the attacks on foreign militants with ties to Pakistan or Bangladesh, saying the extremists want to foment tension between India’s Hindu majority and its Muslim minority.

The argument has been used even when the victims were Muslim, as was the case in the May bombings of a historic mosque in Hyderabad that 11 killed people.

Authorities have provided little evidence linking Islamic militants to the blasts, and many Muslims here blame Hindu extremists.

With the investigation into the latest bombings — which targeted areas frequented by both Hindus and Muslims — just getting under way Sunday, officials were again pointing the finger at foreign Islamic militants.

“Available information points to the involvement of terrorist organizations based in Bangladesh and Pakistan,” Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, told reporters after an emergency state Cabinet meeting.

Reddy did not name the groups or provide proof, saying “it is not possible to divulge all this information.”

However, Indian media reports, quoting unnamed security officials, said the Bangladesh-based Harkatul Jihad Al-Islami group was behind the attack. Harkatul, which wants to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh, has been known to attack non-Bangladeshi targets, including Western diplomats.

Bangladesh condemned Saturday’s bombings and rejected the allegation that Bangladeshi groups were involved.

Pakistan also reacted angrily to Reddy’s comments, characterizing them as an “irresponsible” knee-jerk reaction.

“They have been making these allegations and nothing ever came out of those allegations and yet they continue maligning Pakistan,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.

“Only the Indians have this kind of some supernatural powers that as soon as some terrorist act takes place they know how it happened and who is responsible,” she told The Associated Press in Islamabad.

Indian officials have blamed other bombings over the past two years on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, or Army of the Pure, an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan that has fought India forces in New Delhi’s part of contested Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim Himalayan region.

We condemn the attacks,” U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Sunday. “India has shown great resolve and courage in the face of extremist threats. We continue to stand by the Indian people in the fight against terror.”

Much of India’s Hindu-Muslim animosity is rooted in disputes over Kashmir, divided between Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan but claimed in its entirety by both countries. More than a dozen Islamic insurgent groups are fighting for Kashmir’s independence or its merger with Pakistan.

More than 80 percent of India’s 1.1 billion people are Hindu and 13 percent are Muslim. But in Hyderabad, Muslims make up 40 percent of the population of 7 million.

BURMA: Burma’s military regime has arrested at least nine leaders of a pro-democracy group which had staged a rare protest against massive fuel price hikes, an activist group said Wednesday.

The Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a release that virtually the entire leadership of the 88 Generation Students was taken to a detention center in Yangon.

Five university students and three members of another activist group were also arrested in separate sweeps by the authorities, the release said.

Members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were given lengthy prison terms after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

The arrests at midnight Tuesday came two days after the group led more than 400 people in a protest march through Yangon against the doubling of fuel prices on Aug. 15.

Those reportedly arrested included Min Ko Naing, one of Myanmar’s most prominent activists, Mya Aye, Pyone Cho and Yin Htun.

Three members of the Myanmar Development Committee, which had called for a nationwide protest against the sudden hikes, were also arrested along with five university students who were putting up posters demanding the reduction of prices on fuel and basic commodities.

Rumors circulated in Yangon that a nationwide protest against the hikes would be staged Wednesday.

Security in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, has been tightened since Monday.

Tension was also reported among teachers and students at schools and universities, traditional centers of protest, with some parents saying they would not send their children to school on Wednesday in light of the rumors.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been widely criticized for its human rights violations including the continued house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The country has been under military control since 1962.

THAILAND: Thailand’s voters have approved an army-drafted constitution but a hefty “No” vote suggests December’s general election will be messy, with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra still a potent political force. 

With 98 percent of votes counted on Monday in Thailand’s first referendum, the Election Commission said about 57 percent of people had accepted the charter, designed to prevent a repeat of Thaksin’s powerful single-party style of government.

However, 41 percent rejected it, sending a signal to the generals who removed the telecoms billionaire in a coup last September they will struggle to control the make-up of the next administration.

Roughly 25 million of the 45 million electorate cast their ballots, a 56 percent turnout.

Having pressed for a “Yes” vote, the army-appointed post-coup government had been hoping for at least a 60 percent turn-out for what will be the 18th charter in 75 years of on-off democracy.

After early exit polls indicated overall approval — a result that was never really in question — Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said elections would “definitely be held at the end of the year”. Dec. 16 or Dec. 23 are the most likely dates.

Thaksin, 58, has been in exile in Britain since the coup and spent Sunday afternoon watching his newly acquired soccer club, Manchester City, beat Manchester United 1-0 in a match that generated as much interest back home as the referendum.
Many Thais, especially those in Bangkok, appeared motivated to vote by a desire to see an end to the turmoil that has reigned since Thaksin’s family sold control of the telecoms empire he founded to Singapore for a tax-free $1.9 billion in January 2006.

Analysts said investors would also be relieved there had been no major upset, although the smaller-than-expected margin of victory for the “Yes” camp suggested the election would be closely fought, messy — and dirty.

“This is telling the junta that they are going to have trouble at an election and that could mean all kinds of attempts to influence the result — and that’s worrying,” Bangkok-based political analyst Chris Baker said.

Even though Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party has been disbanded and 111 top members barred from politics, its leaders hope the mass rural support that twice swept it to power will rally to a new party under a new flag.

Voter breakdowns showed a 62 percent “No” in the Thaksin heartlands of the northeast, suggesting the army’s campaign to discredit him and his dissolved party has failed.

Analysts say the charter is designed to restore rule by the elites challenged by Thaksin, son of an ethnic Chinese silk merchant, and rekindle the “managed democracy” of the 1980s under ex-army chief Prem Tinsulanonda — now the King’s top adviser and seen by the Thaksin camp as the coup mastermind.

Human rights groups have criticised the poll as a sham, given that nearly half of Thailand’s 76 provinces remain under martial law and that a “No” vote would have allowed the army to impose any one of the previous 17 constitutions.

A full official result was expected later on Monday.

THAILAND: A new constitution for Thailand that is to usher in December general elections and end military rule was approved by millions of voters in a nationwide referendum on Sunday, according to two exit polls. 

Approval of the charter, the country’s 18th in the last three-quarters of a century, was widely expected.
 
A Suan Dusit Institute poll, released shortly after balloting ended, showed that 68 percent of voters approved the new constitution, while an ABAC poll indicated more than 70 percent said yes.
 
The approval means the generals who have been in power for the past 11 months are bound to hold general elections in December.
 
A “no” vote would have delayed the polls and allowed the military to pick any of the country’s previous constitutions and make it the law of the land.
 
Defenders of the charter concede it is imperfect, but argue it is the best way out of the political stalemate that led the military to seize power last Sept. 19 amid growing unrest over alleged corruption and abuse of power by then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, now in self-exile in Britain.
 
Critics say the 186-page constitution, which emphasizes checks and balances at the expense of participatory democracy, perpetuates the behind-the-scenes power the military has wielded in Thailand for decades.
 
A number of voters appeared to ignore the content of the document, focusing instead on either the election or the coup-makers.
 
“I voted for the constitution because I want the general election to be held this year,” said Chucheep Onkoksung, a government official, at one of Bangkok’s polling stations.
 
Samran Kalawin, casting ballots with four members of her family, said, “We voted no because we hate the military coup.”
 
Thailand has been administered since the bloodless coup under an interim constitution that keeps the military — through its Council for National Security — in control behind the veneer of temporary civilian rule. The government is headed by ex-army chief Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, who made no comment after casting his vote.
 
Opponents also complain the referendum itself is flawed because a rejection of the military-approved proposal means the generals will then be free to impose a constitution without further consultation with the voters.
 
The government said it expects 60-70 percent of eligible voters to cast their ballots. The turnout at many Bangkok polling stations was heavy.
 
More than 26,000 soldiers, police and militia were on alert across the four southernmost provinces to protect some 2,600 polling stations against insurgent strikes, army spokesman Col. Akara Thirote said.
 
Violence in the south has taken the lives of more than 2,400 people in nearly four years of almost daily attacks by separatist rebels.
 
Soldiers in Narathiwat province arrived at polling stations in full battle gear as helicopters clattered overhead.
 
A homemade, remote-controlled bomb injured a soldier and several civilians in the province, but Akara said the incident did not appear related to the referendum.
 
“The general situation is rather calm today compared to the daily attacks of the insurgents,” he said.

THAILAND: Internet law experts and webmasters have lashed out at the government’s illegal blocking of websites and the use of threats and intimidation tactics against webmasters. 

Paiboon Amornpinyokiart, an internet and IT law expert, said nowhere in the controversial Cyber Crime Act — which was pushed through by the military-appointed government and took effect on July 19 — does it say the government has the authority to freely block websites. The law says any move to block a website must be backed by a court order.
 
He said the Information and Communications Technology Ministry (ICT) had to first seek court orders if it wanted to block any “undesirable” websites. The Cyber Crime Act was passed through the National Legislative Assembly along with a number of other controversial bills this year, despite grave concerns raised by local and international human and media rights groups.
 
The president of the Thai Webmasters Association, Poramate Minsiri, said most of the content of the new law had been altered during the deliberation in parliament and was acceptable to him.
 
But, he said, the unchecked blocking of websites by the government without court approval was now a major problem.
 
Webmasters have received phone threats and other various forms of intimidation from officials criticising content on their websites and threatening to ban them, he said. Mr Poramate also said the officials intimidating them had refused to reveal their names.
 
He said webmasters had provided software programs such as Ultrasurf to internet users to reverse the blocking but had then been told off by the ICT for distributing the programs.
 
Mr Poramate said ICT officials should carefully study the scope of their authority permitted under the new computer crime law and alter their actions accordingly.
 
Chiranuch Premchaiporn of www.prachathai.com, a website providing information on social and political issues, said the government’s rush to issue media-related laws shortly after the Sept 19 coup was grossly inappropriate.
 
The draft Radio and Television Broadcasting Bill, currently being deliberated, has also drawn widespread criticism for the heavy punishments it will impose on radio and television operators who operate without state permission.
 
She said community radio operators would be badly affected by the draft bill as most operate without licenses.

THAILAND: Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont called on Thais to vote on Sunday in a referendum on a military-drafted constitution that will limit the powers of politicians but lead to elections by the end of the year. 

“This is a critical transition for Thailand, so I would like to ask people to go out and vote,” Surayud said in a television interview on Saturday, nearly a year after elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a bloodless coup.
 
“This is another test for democracy and I hope we will pass this test,” he said.
 
The country’s voters are likely to approve the draft, despite many reservations, in hope of ending more than 18 months of political turmoil that has crimped economic growth.
 
The referendum requires a simple 50 percent majority to pass a constitution which would take power from politicians and hand it to bureaucrats and judges.
 
It was designed to prevent the re-emergence of a strong, single-party government like Thaksin’s, and means a return to the constantly collapsing coalitions of the early 1990s, political analysts say.
 
A majority vote against the draft would leave power in the hands of the military to pick one of Thailand’s previous 17 constitutions, revise it and promulgate it within 30 days.
 
Coup council chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin said on Friday that if the draft charter were rejected at the referendum, it would take him “a couple of days” to pick his favorite constitution and make some amendments.
 
“It would definitely take less than 30 days to promulgate another constitution, if I had to pick one,” Sonthi said. 
 
Many people, despite objections to parts of the draft, are thought likely to vote for it to avoid that unknown and get to elections that would produce a parliament which could amend it.
 
Analysts say the draft would put the country back in the era of “managed democracy” of the 1980s under ex-army chief Prem Tinsulanonda, now chief royal adviser and seen by the Thaksin camp as the coup mastermind.
 
Few believe an anti-charter campaign — spearheaded by supporters of Thaksin, now in exile in London, but including some foes — can succeed in voting it down.
 
But a low turnout would be an embarrassment for the generals and, as in most Thai elections, allegations of vote buying and strong-arm tactics are flying.
 
The military council behind the coup and the government it appointed are striving to get at least 60 percent of the 45 million voters to cast ballots, arguing the new charter would provide an “ethical” and “legitimate” democracy.
 
Coup leaders have enlisted 400,000 military personnel to persuade people to back the draft charter, branded by Thaksin — for whom the Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant on corruption charges — as “fruit of the poisonous tree”.
 
The Interior Ministry has instructed governors of all 76 provinces to order 80,000 village chiefs to get as many people as possible to the polling booths and awards will be given to the governors whose province have the highest turnouts.
 
Opponents of the draft, who deny the charges, are accused of paying people to vote “No” or stay at home.
 
Election officials expect to have a preliminary result of the referendum late on Sunday and an official result on Monday.

INDIA: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s independence-day speech yesterday should come as a huge disappointment to investors. 

The country’s 60th anniversary of independence from Britain was a perfect opportunity for Singh to make up for lost time and announce bold, new economic freedoms, something that his government has shied away from granting the people in the three years that it has been in power.

He missed the chance.

Singh uttered the word “reform” — India’s official shorthand for all plans that seek to modernize the economy and loosen state controls — just once in his speech, and that too in the context of fixing university education.

By contrast, Singh’s predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had used the word 13 times in 2000.

The only tangible takeaway for investors from Singh’s uninspiring address is that his government already has the 2009 polls on its mind.

Why else would the prime minister of the world’s second- fastest-growing major economy celebrate a proud and unique moment in the nation’s history with a lament that included as many as 15 references to poverty?

One hates to be a cynic, but a simple analysis of independence-day speeches seems to suggest that concern for the plight of the downtrodden follows a cyclical pattern in India.

It rises when general elections are near and ebbs once they are out of the way.

Gloomy Speech

On the six occasions Vajpayee had addressed the nation from the historic Red Fort in Delhi, he used the words “poverty” and “poor” a combined 27 times. Out of these, as many as 24 mentions occurred in the three independence-day speeches immediately preceding the May 2004 election, which he lost.

Singh isn’t taking any chances.

“Even after years of development and rising growth rates, why have we not been able to banish mass poverty and provide employment to all?” Singh asked his countrymen yesterday, adding that the purpose of his rhetorical question was “not to make you feel dispirited, but to enthuse you to march forward.”

It isn’t the people of India who need to be prodded into action; it’s the politicians that need to wake up. Almost everyone outside of the political and administrative establishment is already marching forward as best they can.

The creative solutions invented by people to make a living are visible on every street corner, though they may not always make for a pretty picture.

State-Sponsored Penury

In smaller towns of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it’s common to find pushcart vendors who will replace — even repair — your soiled, torn currency note for a fee. They call themselves “money exchangers.”

Why do the people of India have to be engaged in such desperate, hopeless businesses 60 years after the end of colonial exploitation? Why can’t the world’s biggest democracy, which has done an incredible job of nation-building, find better uses for its people’s enterprise?

Official estimates suggest that between 22 percent and 28 percent of Indians live below the poverty line, which is defined as per-capita consumption expenditure of about 40 U.S. cents a day in urban areas.

While the ratio of poor people in the population has steadily declined for three decades, there’s no denying that 28 percent of 1 billion people translates into a huge challenge.

It’s not that Indians have chosen to live a life of penury; impecuniousness has been thrust on them by an uncaring state that isn’t even now willing to give them the freedoms they need to find a job or run a business.

Endless Wait

Take the country’s overly restrictive labor laws, which discourage hiring by making it extremely difficult and expensive to fire workers. As a result, a majority of workers have to toil in informal, extralegal businesses where they have no rights.

Based on a survey of about 2,000 retail stores across India, World Bank economist Mohammad Amin recently concluded that scrapping the country’s rigid labor laws would boost employment by 22 percent for an average store.

With retailers employing 9 percent of the workforce, the gains in employment would surely be significant for the economy as a whole. Yet, a plan to amend the labor laws has awaited political consensus since 2001.

Similarly, large-format global retailers are being prevented from investing directly in Indian stores, out of a misplaced concern for the small local shopkeeper, curtailing yet another opportunity for employment creation and economic growth.

Finance Suffers

Change is perhaps the slowest in the financial sector, where the opportunity for India is probably the largest.

Insurance, pensions and banking remain heavily state-owned, state-controlled and, therefore, tiny compared with what an economy the size of India’s really needs.

A committee established by the government has come up with a bold road map for turning Mumbai into an international financial center. The least Singh could do was to endorse the strategy in his speech so that it would be taken seriously as part of the executive’s political agenda.

But then, in his speech, Singh even forgot to claim credit for what may well become the single-biggest victory of his political career: the recently concluded civilian nuclear agreement with the U.S. That deal may be getting the Indian prime minister brickbats from politicians of all hues, but it’s also winning him praise from businessmen who are impatient for an end to the country’s acute shortage of electric power.

If only Singh had strived for a great speech, instead of a safe one.

Commentary by Andy Mukherjee in Singapore

THAILAND: Members of Thailand’s former ruling party put on a show of force on Wednesday by attracting at least 10,000 people to a central Bangkok plaza to protest against the proposed post-coup constitution. 

The rally was organised by the People Power party, whose profile has grown recently after 300 members of Thai Rak Thai (TRT) – the party formed by ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra – joined them.

Thousands of Thaksin supporters clad in shirts declaring “We Vote No” cheered as speakers slammed the junta which seized power in a putsch last year.

The speakers also urged people to vote down a new military-backed charter that goes to the public vote on Sunday.

“The junta ousted the elected government. This means they don’t respect people. How can they write the constitution?” said Sudarat Keyurathan, who was a deputy TRT leader until the party was banned in May.

“This is reason enough to say no to this constitution,” she told the crowd at Sanam Luang plaza, which enthusiastically chanted Thaksin’s name.

The military says the new charter will clear the way for elections by the end of the year, but opponents fear it will provide ways for the army to maintain an influence over government through powerful appointees.

Campaigning is tilted heavily in the government’s favour, with half the country under martial law since the coup and a new law threatening prison for anyone convicted of obstructing the referendum.

One protester said she was there because she disagreed with many articles in the new charter.

“The junta are bandits who tore up the people’s constitution,” said 63-year-old retiree Suwanan, who gave one name only.

“How can they say they will give democracy to us, because there is no democracy among bandits,” she told AFP.

Fellow demonstrators held up signs imploring “Thaksin Come Back”, “Junta Get Out”, and “We cannot accept this constitution”.

Bangkok police major general Manit Wongsomboon estimated the crowd at more than 10,000 people, while organisers said up to 100,000 had turned out. Police said there were no reports of violence at the rally.

Tensions have been high since late July, when 100 anti-coup protesters were injured in clashes with police in the first violence since the coup in September 2006. There was a light police presence on Wednesday night.

Thai Rak Thai was dissolved by a military-appointed court in May for election fraud.

But more than 300 top members, including 160 former parliamentarians, agreed to join the People Power party, enabling them to run in polls the military has promised to hold by year’s end. – AFP

Travelocity was fined nearly $183,000 for booking roughly 1,400 Cuba trips between 1998 and 2004, apparently the first time Washington has cracked down on a major online travel provider for violating the 1963 embargo on the communist nation.

Travelocity blamed the 1,458 violations on technical issues that were corrected years ago. ”In no way did the company intend to sell trips to Cuba,” the spokeswoman, Ashley Johnson, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. “The trips to Cuba . . . were unintentionally booked online because of a technical issue several years ago and it’s just now being settled.”

Johnson said the trips were booked in the United States. But Travelocity’s penalty comes amid conflicts over foreign arms of U.S. firms selling trips into the popular Caribbean vacation spot. And it touches on the complications of isolating a country commercially amid an increasingly global and digital economy.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also fined American Express Travel for allowing its Mexican subsidiary to book two groups on Cuba trips in December 2002 and October 2003. But while American Express paid $16,625 for its two incidents, Travelocity was fined $182,750 for 1,458 violations, OFAC disclosed Saturday.

The Travelocity fine is the second-highest imposed by the OFAC during this fiscal year, ending Sept. 30. The highest fine — $220,000 — was levied on LogicaCMG of Lexington, Mass. Its predecessor, CMG Telecommunications, exported computers, electronic components and technical support knowing the goods were destined for Cuba in 2001.

The penalties do not seem to open up a new front in the Bush administration’s energetic enforcement of laws designed to hurt Cuba’s economy. Experts on the embargo said federal law is fairly clear that foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms can’t do business in Cuba, and that OFAC clarified the matter with travel companies five years ago.

At the time, an unknown Internet travel company had requested permission for its foreign website to book Cuba trips for people not subject to U.S. jurisdiction — namely the 2 million people who vacation in Cuba each year.

The company, whose name OFAC did not disclose, noted travel providers had always been free to include information on Cuba flights, hotel rates and air fares on digital booking systems used by travel agents. Why should the online version be any different?

But in a 2002 letter, OFAC’s director at the time, Richard Newcomb, said the Internet had transformed those booking systems into commercial ventures where financial transactions take place. As a result, the subsidiary was banned from selling Cuba trips. Clif Burns, an export lawyer specializing in Cuba, said the matter seemed settled with the letter. An OFAC official who did not want to be identified said Travelocity was the first large online travel provider to face an OFAC fine.

THAILAND: Senior Thai judges issued arrest warrants for the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife yesterday on the grounds that they sought to evade corruption charges over a multi-million dollar land deal.

The former leader, who recently acquired Manchester City football club for £81.6m, was deposed in a bloodless coup in September while he was abroad. He has since been living in exile in London and failed to appear before a hearing scheduled to begin yesterday.

The nine-judge panel of Thailand’s supreme court ordered the telecoms billionaire and his wife, Pojaman, to be produced before the court at the next hearing scheduled for September 25. Prosecutors said afterwards that if Mr Thaksin failed to appear by the new deadline then extradition proceedings would be considered.

However, an extradition request to British authorities would have virtually no hope of success. British law has no charge equivalent to that which Mr Thaksin, 57, is facing under Thai legislation. Foreign governments are also usually reluctant to extradite former heads of state where there are suspicions of political persecution.

The couple are accused of being involved in a $22m land deal to buy a prime piece of Bangkok real estate in 2003 while Mr Thaksin was prime minister, in contravention of laws barring serving officials and politicians engaging in business with state enterprises.

In the wake of the coup, an “assets examination committee” established by the military-appointed government investigated the purchase of land from an arm of the Bank of Thailand at an auction in which other bidders dropped out.

If convicted, Mr Thaksin faces up to 10 years in jail. The committee is demanding the purchase be set aside, the land returned and the money confiscated.

The former prime minister’s lawyer, Pichit Cheunban, argued that because of the political uncertainty in Thailand it was not safe for his client to return, though his wife has travelled in and out of the country often and is currently in London.

The lawyer argued that Mr Thaksin’s reappearance in Thailand would merely destabilise the fragile political situation ahead of elections that the coup leaders have pledged by December.

He added that it would be impossible for Mr Thaksin to receive a fair trial while the junta was still in control and urged that the case be postponed until next year, or until at least a month after the elections.

“I have talked with my two clients and we agree that the best timing for them to return to fight the case is after the election,” Mr Pichit said after the ruling. “We reiterate that the current situation is still not good for their safety and we have no desire to see disunity in the country.”

In his initial reaction to the Thai court’s decision, Mr Thaksin gave a non-committal response to the Associated Press.

“I am aware of the decision in Thailand,” he said in a statement. “I shall consult with my legal advisers and make an announcement in due course.”

The army chief, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the coup, said Mr Thaksin’s safety would be guaranteed if he returned, directly contradicting an earlier statement that the former premier might be at risk from his enemies.

“The [National Security Council] has to be responsible and the government has to ask the police to take care of it with the military playing a supporting role,” he said. “There should not be any problem for him to return. Everything has gone in accordance with the Assets Examination Committee and court process.”

Since June, almost $2bn of Mr Thaksin’s assets have been frozen in Thai bank accounts. The tycoon was already a wealthy businessman before he secured two terms in office between 2001 and 2006. But the tax-free sale of his telecoms empire to the Singapore government’s investment arm in 2006 sparked mass street protests that led to his eventual downfall.

The Thai military, which justified its takeover on the grounds that Mr Thaksin was corrupt, vilified the former prime minister, but took almost eight months to bring the first charges against him.

THAILAND: With martial law still in effect across half the country outside of the capital, Bangkok, people appear resigned to yet another constitution in Thailand’s first ever referendum on August 19.

In Bangkok’s downtown night market, Ratporn Supsong sells wooden statues of Buddha that the faithful believe will bring them good fortune and protect them from harm.

But the 44-year-old says she is pinning her hopes for a peaceful future on Thailand’s first-ever referendum next weekend, when the military-backed government will ask voters to approve a new constitution.

“I will go to vote and I will vote yes, because I don’t want the political situation to get worse,” she says.

The August 19 referendum only asks voters to approve or reject the charter, but the military sees it as much more — a vote on the legitimacy of the coup that ousted elected premier Thaksin Shinawatra last September.

Generals have tried to play up the idea that they staged a popular coup, because of the warm welcome that many in Bangkok gave soldiers when they seized power, ending months of anti-Thaksin protests and political turmoil.

But for people outside Bangkok, especially in rural areas where Thaksin enjoyed immense popularity, the referendum will be their first chance to deliver a verdict on the coup.

The junta isn’t risking much with the balloting — the generals have vowed to impose a new charter even if voters reject the proposed draft.

They want to win a strong majority, as the vote would be seen as a stamp of approval for their takeover, reducing the risk of further turmoil, says political analyst Thitinan Pongsuhirak.

“If there is a low turnout, less than 50 percent, it doesn’t give them very much legitimacy,” he said.

“A no vote is not good for the people in power. They want to see a high turnout for a yes.”

To do that, the army-installed government is doing everything it can.

A three-day weekend has been declared and the junta has convinced bus and train operators to halve their fares so that millions of migrant workers, who have to leave jobs in the city and return to their hometowns to cast ballots, can do so.

All of Thailand’s 700,000 security officers have been ordered to join a get-out-the-vote campaign, which has included men in green Martian-looking masks passing out flyers on the streets of Bangkok to startled passersby.

Polls seem to indicate that voters are resigned to the constitution.

A national survey released last week by Chulalongkorn University found that 78 percent of respondents said they would vote to approve the charter, even though only 47 percent are satisfied with it.

Opponents say the proposals will grant the military continued political influence by taking power away from elected officials and giving it to bureaucrats.

But they have had a tough time getting their message heard, stifled in part by a law that threatens 10 years in prison to anyone who “misrepresents” the charter.

Thaksin’s allies have led protests in Bangkok against the charter, but they have failed to gain any momentum, rarely attracting more than a few thousand people. The protests have taken an even lower profile since one rally in late July turned violent, with 100 people injured in clashes with police.

Hardly any advertisements are up either for or against the charter. Only a few taxi drivers have stuck “vote no” stickers in their windows.

Martial law imposed after the coup remains in effect across half of Thailand, making campaigning difficult outside the capital.

Many Thais like Ratporn and all the main political parties seem less focused on the charter, with their sights set on general elections, which the military has promised to hold by year’s end.

“More people are willing to just move on, especially in the urban centres,” said Thitinan.

The lack of enthusiasm could also be because Thais have learned not to rely on the permanence of their constitutions. The new one would be the 18th seen in the country over the last 75 years.

“We’ve had a lot of constitutions. It’s possible we could just get a new one in five years,” said a 35-year-old man selling Thai kickboxing gear at the market.

THAILAND: In football crazy Thailand, Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra’s purchase of Manchester City Football Club is nothing short of political genius.

Whilst Thailand’s Military Junta ponder what to do next as the country rapidly falls into economic and political chaos, the famed exiled leader Thaksin Shinawatra is having a ball – literally. Thaksin is pouring on the charm in his adopted country England and known affectionately by Manchester City fans as “Frank Sinatra”.

To add to his growing popularity, the former Thai Prime Minister hosted a concert attended by more than 8,000 people in Manchester’s main square on Saturday – his first major public appearance since he was ousted in a military coup last year.
Surrounded by players from the soccer team he recently bought, Manchester City, Thaksin addressed the cheering crowd outside Manchester Town Hall.

Before the event, Thaksin said he had no plans to attempt a political comeback in Thailand. However, he said the event would demonstrate the strong levels of support he has back home and in England, where he lives in self-imposed exile.

‘The people in Thailand, the majority of them, are still supporting me,’ Thaksin said after watching his first Manchester City game – a 1-0 defeat of Spanish team Valencia in a preseason friendly.

‘If there were to be free and fair elections, my party would win again because this is the first time in Thai history that they have overthrown a very popular government,’ he said.

Thaksin thanked the club and Manchester for accepting him.

‘I feel very honoured and touched by the type of reception I have received from you all today,’ he said.
Thaksin endeared himself further to the crowd by closing the concert – which featured popular Thai singer Mai Charoenpura – singing the club’s anthem Blue Moon.

Mr Noi Ramasut, a friend of Thaksin’s for 40 years, predicted the images of the event broadcast in Thailand would reinvigorate supporters of his Thai Rak Thai Party, which was disbanded by a court ruling in May in a bid to eradicate the former premier’s political influence.

‘He doesn’t want to create conflict now. He will wait for it all to calm down,’ said Mr Ramasut, who moved to Britain in 1973 from Bangkok. ‘This event will make a lot of people feel alive and feel he is present and his future in Thai politics is alive and well.’