Thaksin 'lonely', denies cancer rumours

10/04/2010
Bangkok Post

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra says he is in good health and is asking his supporters not to believe rumours about him being ill.

"I'm doing fine now. I'm physically strong, just feel a bit lonely which is normal for a working man like me," Thaksin said on his Twitter page yesterday.

Thaksin posted the messages after rumours spread yesterday morning that he had been admitted to hospital after going into "shock" during a chemotherapy session.

The rumour surfaced after Thaksin skipped his almost daily phone-in to red shirt supporters back in Thailand for five days in a row.

Political talk show hosts at the yellow shirts' ASTV channel also quoted an anonymous doctor based in the UAE as saying that Thaksin was in an intensive care unit.

"The rumour is ridiculous. I just underwent a medical checkup in Russia on March 30 and doctors found nothing wrong with me except that I have too much fat [in my blood]," Thaksin said.

Thaksin said he opted to suspend his phone-ins to red shirt supporters this week to avoid creating misunderstandings among the public that the red shirt people are fighting for his cause.

"I don't want people to misinterpret the aims of true democratic fighters who have come out to fight for justice," Thaksin said.

He said he will travel to Saudi Arabia today upon an invitation from a prince, who has persuaded him to invest in a town project and an agribusiness centre there.

Noppadon Pattama, Thaksin's legal adviser, yesterday also denied rumours that the ousted prime minister had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. They talked yesterday morning by phone.

Mr Noppadon also denied that the UAE government has told Thaksin to stop using the country as a base for political activities, but admitted Thaksin was cautious about the issue as he wanted Dubai to be his residence.

Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Panich Vikitsreth said that, to his knowledge, Thaksin was suffering only from a cold and was not admitted to an ICU in Dubai. Mr Panich said the former prime minister would leave Dubai today for four days, but he was not sure about the destination.

In another development, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the ministry had been working on resuming its relationship with Phnom Penh.

The government wanted Cambodia to remove Thaksin from the position of economic adviser. That would be one of the considerations for resuming a normal relationship with Cambodia, Mr Kasit said.

Mr Kasit said the government would consult all parties, including the military, National Security Council and the public, about reappointing the Thai ambassador to Cambodia.

"The government has realised that problems between Thailand and Cambodia have affected Asean as a whole as all Asean members have expressed concern about our relationship," said the minister.