Army will have nothing to do with Thaksin return: Thanasak
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Supreme Commander General Thanasak Pratimapakorn said yesterday that the issue of whether former PM Thaksin Shinawatra will be allowed to return as a free man was not up to the military because it is not the Justice Ministry.
Thanasak said this in reaction to questions about the recently leaked audio clip purportedly of a conversation between Thaksin and Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha, in which they discussed several topics including the former leader’s return to the Kingdom.
Thanasak, who was on a working trip to Nakhon Ratchasima, insisted that the armed forces would not meddle in politics. He also said the armed forces would not discuss the clip with the press as there was nothing to say on it and he was not interested in the issue.
When asked about being referred to in the clip by his position, and one of the parties saying he was in good terms with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after a rocky beginning, Thanasak said he was not offended.
“My principle is that I talk with other top brass with reason,” he told reporters.
Asked if the leaked audio clip would have a negative effect in his relationship with others in the armed forces, Thanasak reiterated he was not angry with anybody.
When asked how the public could be assured that the military is not being manipulated politicians, the Supreme Commander responded by asking reporters if the armed forces had ever been under any political manipulation.
