Yesterday, blogged wondering whether former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would visit Cambodia again after the Thai engineer had been released, but now we have video confirmation that he arrived yesterday in Cambodia. AFP reports:

After his arrival, Thaksin went to Prey Sar prison for a brief visit with a Thai man jailed for spying on him last month.

Siwarak Chothipong, 31, is due to be released on Monday after Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni issued a pardon.

Thaksin is expected to attend an official ceremony following Siwarak’s release to be held at Hun Sen’s home along with members of Thailand’s opposition party and Siwarak’s mother.

Reuters:

Siwarak Chutipongse, 31, was pardoned last week after a request to Cambodia’s king from Thaksin and others, according to a Cambodian minister speaking at the time, and Thaksin went immediately to see Sirawak on his arrival on Sunday.

He travelled to the prison where Sirawak is being held, before his release on Monday, in a police-escorted convoy of 14 vehicles.

“I am very happy that Thaksin, who is economic adviser to the government, and Prime Minister Hun Sen, helped to release my client,” Siwarak’s lawyer, Khieu Sambo, told journalists outside the prison.

Picture:

Source: Channel 3 – Matichon has the clip.

BP: You can hear audio on the video – although the quality is not good – of Thaksin asking the engineer on who spoke to him from the Thai Embassy regarding their request for details of Thaksin’s flight etc. You can hear the engineer respond along the lines of what he said in the court which was he was telephoned by the First Secretary and didn’t know the information immediately so had to ask.

Matichon also reports that former PM Somchai W and Thaksin’s sister Yaowapah, together with a number of ex-TRT, PPP, and current Puea Thai MPs will also go to Cambodia to see Thaksin. This includes former PPP Secretary-General Yongyuth (นายยงยุทธ ติยะไพรัช อดีตรองหัวหน้าพรรคพลังประชาชน), former TRT executive Phongsak and around a dozen or so others. They are expected to arrive back in Thailand with the Thai engineer around 4pm.

BP: No doubt there will be extensive coverage of the engineer’s arrival. Not quite sure on the politics on Thaksin’s visit this time around. The Abhisit government cannot expel anymore ambassadors and Thaksin has no new position, but it will depend on how high-profile of a role Thaksin plays today and what he says.

Of course, Thaksin’s visit and a similiar picture to above made the front pages of the Thai papers today. It is the main story on Thai Rath. On Daily News it is below the fold (the main story being the smuggling of the weapons from North Korea).

btw, the other day Thaksin mentioned he was visiting three countries in Asia. Before visiting Cambodia, BP has heard from a reliable source that he also visited Sri Lanka (Democrat spokesman confirmed this stating Thaksin’s flight to Phnom Penh originated from Colombo) and met with a Cabinet Minister on Saturday night regarding Thais investing in Sri Lanka. No idea whether these are big or small countries, but he seems to be playing a role of fixer for other investors.