The Criminal Court has granted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra permission to leave Thailand to attend an ASEAN meeting in Brunei on February 18 and 19, at the invitation of ASEAN chair, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The court, however, rejected Thaksin’s request to travel to Cambodia and Vietnam after visiting Brunei, claiming that the invitations did not come from the governments of the two countries, but from former prime minister Hun Sen and a Vietnamese businessman, who is an advisor to the Vietnamese government.
Currently a personal advisor to the ASEAN chair, Thaksin sought permission from the court on February 13th. The court considered the request the following day by inviting Thaksin and Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa to give statements.
A five million baht in bond was posted, as a guarantee that Thaksin will return after the meeting in Brunei and report to the court within three days of his arrival back in Thailand.
The court has previously allowed the former prime minister to travel to Malaysia, when invited by Anwar.
Thaksin’s travel abroad is currently restricted by his conditions of bail, related to a pending trial on a charge of lèse majesté.
