Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's recent political comeback as chairman of the opposition Puea Thai Party is being seen as an attempt to throw more fuel on the political fire in the country.
Gen Chavalit insisted that his return to politics had nothing to do with a bid to help deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra back to power, but sceptics are not convinced.
Thaksin is in self-exile after being sentenced to two years in jail for abusing his power when he was prime minister to help his former wife Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra to buy land in the Ratchadapisek area.
Gen Chavalit made a comeback only a year after he announced his retirement from politics in 2008 when he resigned as deputy prime minister in the Somchai Wongsawat government.
Gen Chavalit earlier said that he had decided to join the Thaksin-backed party because he wanted to help it secure "a landslide victory" in the next general election. He also called for the government's coalition partners to join him in setting up a national government to bring peace and reconciliation to the country.
But it is now difficult to believe what Gen Chavalit says after he travelled to Cambodia to meet Hun Sen and told the Thai public that the Cambodian prime minister had built a luxury house in Phnom Penh for Thaksin to stay in.
The 76-year-old former prime minister acted as if he was Hun Sen's mouthpiece by boasting about the friendship between the Cambodian premier and Thaksin. He seemed to be provoking the Thai government with the implication that if Thaksin is on Cambodian soil, then it would be unable to extradite him.
Gen Chavalit's visit to Cambodia on Wednesday could also be seen as a well-planned strategy to steal the limelight from the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and related summits in Cha-am.
Gen Chavalit should make it clear to the public why he had to rush to meet Hun Sen only two days before the summit began. His explanations so far will only fuel suspicions about the real motive behind his political comeback.
Cambodia is not the only stop along the way on Gen Chavalit's mission to help regain confidence people's in the Puea Thai Party and Thaksin. He also plans to meet other Asean leaders, including those of Burma and Malaysia.
The tour could be seen as Puea Thai trying to call for support from the international community if the party wins the next election. Gen Chavalit could also use this opportunity to seek sympathy and forgiveness from Asean leaders for Thaksin, and try to convince them that Thaksin is a victim of his political opponents and the coup makers.
Shortly after Gen Chavalit joined Puea Thai, a group of former Class 10 classmates of Thaksin at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School flocked to join the opposition. Gen Chavalit could have been behind this move.
These former soldiers were very close to Gen Chavalit and Thaksin, and they were believed to be among those who became outraged by the annual transfers in the past by the coup makers led by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin.
Gen Chavalit and other Puea Thai members will now surely step up activities to discredit the government until it can no longer stay in power.
The opposition wants to see a House dissolution and a general election as quickly as possible. If the Abhisit Vejjajiva government want to prolong its time in office, it will have to work harder for the people, who will then look at the government in a more favourable light.
Gen Chavalit insisted that his return to politics had nothing to do with a bid to help deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra back to power, but sceptics are not convinced.
Thaksin is in self-exile after being sentenced to two years in jail for abusing his power when he was prime minister to help his former wife Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra to buy land in the Ratchadapisek area.
Gen Chavalit made a comeback only a year after he announced his retirement from politics in 2008 when he resigned as deputy prime minister in the Somchai Wongsawat government.
Gen Chavalit earlier said that he had decided to join the Thaksin-backed party because he wanted to help it secure "a landslide victory" in the next general election. He also called for the government's coalition partners to join him in setting up a national government to bring peace and reconciliation to the country.
But it is now difficult to believe what Gen Chavalit says after he travelled to Cambodia to meet Hun Sen and told the Thai public that the Cambodian prime minister had built a luxury house in Phnom Penh for Thaksin to stay in.
The 76-year-old former prime minister acted as if he was Hun Sen's mouthpiece by boasting about the friendship between the Cambodian premier and Thaksin. He seemed to be provoking the Thai government with the implication that if Thaksin is on Cambodian soil, then it would be unable to extradite him.
Gen Chavalit's visit to Cambodia on Wednesday could also be seen as a well-planned strategy to steal the limelight from the 15th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and related summits in Cha-am.
Gen Chavalit should make it clear to the public why he had to rush to meet Hun Sen only two days before the summit began. His explanations so far will only fuel suspicions about the real motive behind his political comeback.
Cambodia is not the only stop along the way on Gen Chavalit's mission to help regain confidence people's in the Puea Thai Party and Thaksin. He also plans to meet other Asean leaders, including those of Burma and Malaysia.
The tour could be seen as Puea Thai trying to call for support from the international community if the party wins the next election. Gen Chavalit could also use this opportunity to seek sympathy and forgiveness from Asean leaders for Thaksin, and try to convince them that Thaksin is a victim of his political opponents and the coup makers.
Shortly after Gen Chavalit joined Puea Thai, a group of former Class 10 classmates of Thaksin at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School flocked to join the opposition. Gen Chavalit could have been behind this move.
These former soldiers were very close to Gen Chavalit and Thaksin, and they were believed to be among those who became outraged by the annual transfers in the past by the coup makers led by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin.
Gen Chavalit and other Puea Thai members will now surely step up activities to discredit the government until it can no longer stay in power.
The opposition wants to see a House dissolution and a general election as quickly as possible. If the Abhisit Vejjajiva government want to prolong its time in office, it will have to work harder for the people, who will then look at the government in a more favourable light.
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