It is sickening to see people mainly from the working class celebrating this shady fortune hunter in his Bentley, because they hope he might help City.

Anybody thought of the possibility that the whole thing could go wrong and Thaksin could be in the worst case be imprisoned and all his money could be frozen?When what would happen with City??

Said & Done

David Hills
Sunday March 2, 2008
The Observer

From his transformation as a little-known police colonel into the nation's most popular ever leader via a farcical attempt to buy Liverpool football club in 2004 and a bizarre alleged plot on his life last month, Mr Thaksin has always led an arrogant larger-than-life existence where wheeling and dealing behind the scenes has been as important as what is presented to the public.

His chameleon nature first emerged when he resigned from the police in 1987. He claimed to be burnt out but the reality was that he had used his police connections to establish a software marketing company, which - true to form - he named after himself, the Shinawatra Company.

Three years later he helped fuel rumours that he was bankrupt but then he almost magically obtained a 20-year concession from the Thai telephone authorities for his cellular network and his future was assured.

In 1994, having conquered the business world, the by now extremely wealthy tycoon, who had obtained a PhD in criminal justice from a little-known university in Texas while in the police, turned to politics.

True to his track record he created his own party, Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) rather than jump into bed with any of the existing parties, which he saw as tainted by decades of failure to deliver sustainable development.

Populist promises to deliver extremely cheap healthcare, village rejuvenation projects and a debt moratorium for farmers turned Mr Thaksin into an overnight hero. In the 1999 general election Thai Rak Thai not only swept into office, he won the first ever absolute majority in Thai political history. That would be enough of an accolade for most politicians. But not the man from Chaing Mai in northern Thailand. He always wanted more. He always wanted to grab bigger and more dramatic headlines.

Or that is what it seemed like in May 2004 when it emerged he was in "serious" talks to buy a controlling stake of Liverpool football club. Mr Thaksin said his motivation was to associate Thailand with world-class brands rather than world class vices such as the sex industry and drugs trade.

The fact that the Liverpool deal never happened is typical of Mr Thaksin's last two years; namely lots of grand promises but division and failure have been the more dominant threads as his arrogance appeared to overshadow his smooth ability to deliver. His popularity with the rural masses remains as strong as ever but Thailand's better-educated urbanites read much more into the failures and thus mobilised against him.

What proved the last straw was the sale by Thaksin's relatives in January of their stake in the family conglomerate to Singapore without paying any tax. One set of rules for Mr Thaksin and one for the rest of the nation appears to have proved just too much.

from the Guardian

also libel???

interesting. so we can agree that you think that you  have more integrity than a "rags" fan. But do the people who have cheered Thaksin really have more integrity than the "rags" fans.

1. We're not in masses of debt.
2. Our season ticket prices aren't rising 15% in an attempt to claw back this debt.
3. We're not run by a stereotypical Texan tit.
4. 
5. your a twat who know's very little about football.

"I Am Liam, I Am From Manchester... But I Have Brain Cells"

Liam Fray, 2008