THAILAND'S exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a bloodless coup five months ago, is making plans to call Australia home.
Mr Thaksin spent the weekend in Melbourne and Sydney, playing golf at the Capital Golf Club in Melbourne and at The Lakes in Sydney.
In Sydney, the billionaire has engaged an eastern suburbs property developer to find a suitable home.
Mr Thaksin won three landslide election victories but has been unable to return to his homeland since the Thai military seized power when he was attending a UN summit in New York in September.
"I am looking in the eastern suburbs for a property with good views of the harbour," he told The Australian yesterday. "I think Sydney is very safe and I have friends here. I like Australia. The people are friendly and sincere. The weather is good. It is clean and safe and I can play golf all year round."
Mr Thaksin said he hoped the military-installed government now running Thailand would not see his visit to Australia as provocative.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 01,00.html
( Australia and Thailand are very co-operative with extradition laws :cyclopsani: )