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Ousted Thai leader says he's short on money

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-12 16:00

HONG KONG -- Exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Thursday he was short on money, but that Thailand's move to freeze his assets may have helped safeguard his vast wealth from the financial crisis.

File photo of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Takushoku University in Tokyo June 7, 2007. [Agencies]

Thaksin shed light on his life in exile Thursday while speaking in Dubai to news media in Hong Kong via video conference.

Related readings:  Thaksin allies say to resume Thailand protests  Pro-Thaksin protesters ring Thai Parliament  Thaksin followers begin 3-day protest  New Thai premier urges Thaksin to return

The ousted leader, who's been spotted in far-flung locales from Hong Kong to Nicaragua since being driven from his homeland last year, said he had just enough money to support his travels and lifestyle.

He was eyeing a return to the telecommunications industry, where he made billions, but lacked sufficient funds because most of his assets remained locked up by the Thai government.

"I don't know whether I should condemn or thank the military junta that they've frozen my assets in Thailand," Thaksin, standing behind a podium dressed with a bouquet of red roses, told reporters at Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club. "Otherwise I probably would have invested a lot in the stock exchange and lost it."

But he added that he did not have much money outside of Thailand.

"I just have enough to finance my traveling and living standard," he said.

It was a rare public appearance for the fallen leader, who has lived mostly in overseas exile since being ousted in a September 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power. He fled Thailand in 2008 to avoid a two-year prison term for violating a conflict of interest law.