FM defends Thaksin’s Thai passport issuance

BANGKOK, December 23 (TNA) - Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul has insisted that the return of the Thai passport to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is justified, as Thaksin has made no harm to the nation. Surapong said that the previous Democrat Party-led government terminated Thaksin's Thai passport on April 12, 2009, but he did not think Thaksin’s overseas stay has caused any harm to Thailand or other countries; so he has returned the passport, noting although Thaksin was a convict, his case did not violate any passport regulation of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the incumbent Thai foreign minister, Thaksin's passport termination by the previous Thai government appeared to be a political action and discrimination. The main opposition Democrat Party has complained that the passport issuance for Thaksin has violated the rule of laws and the Thai Foreign Ministry's regulations. Meanwhile, Director General of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Tharit Pengdit insisted that DSI did not erase from its database a warrant issued for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's arrest on terrorism charges, as claimed by the opposition Democrat Party. (TNA)