Thaksin's US visa not part of deal over U-tapao: Surapong
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra obtained a US entry visa in May this year, Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said yesterday, dismissing opposition allegations it was granted in exchange for use of U-tapao airbase.
The ex-PM applied for the visa from the country in which he’s lived in exile since April and the United States granted him a multiple-visa, valid for 10 years, on May 6, according to Surapong.
The opposition Democrat Party alleged earlier that the current government under Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra offered the US access to U-tapao airbase for a climate research project by Nasa in exchange for the visa for Thaksin.
The Democrats alleged that Foreign Minister Surapong made the offer during his visit to the US from June 11-17.
Surapong said the request to use U-tapao and Thaksin’s visa were unrelated matters and the former premier obtained the visa more than a month before his visit. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) announced on June 26 it would cancel the weather research project because Thailand failed to grant permission to use facilities at U-tapao airbase in time.
“The opposition should not politicise the issue for its interest. Such destructive politics could hurt our country,” Surapong told reporters in Phnom Penh, where he arrived yesterday for an Asean meeting.
Surapong demanded the opposition take responsibility for false charges against him and the foreign ministry.
“Shame on the opposition, they should confess before priests for this sinful act if they were Christians, or make merit to release the sin if they were Buddhists,” he said.
Surapong said he did not know about Thaksin’s visa until a phone call to the ex-PM over the weekend in response to news of the visa being granted was revealed by Thaksin’s legal adviser Noppadon Pattama.
