Thaksin Shinawatra: the full transcript of his interview with The Times
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor of The Times, spoke to the ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at his home in Dubai
Q : What were your mistakes?
A : I did politics without understanding the power structure of Thai society that much. I just tried to do it like a businessman, tried to do the marketing and campaigning and sales. I tried to help the poor and campaign for popularity, campaign on what I have done for them and work hard for them without being aware of the complication of the power structure of Thai politics. I was very naïve in that. So I stumbled.
Q : What about the sale of Shin Corp [Mr Thaksin’s family telecommunications company which was sold to the Singaporean government for 77.3 billion bath (£1.14 billion) without paying tax, a cause of intense criticism of Mr Thaksin when he was prime minister]. You didn't pay tax. Putting aside the legal rights and wrongs, was that a misjudgement, politically?
A : Even if you want to pay tax the revenue department cannot accept your tax. Capital gains tax in Thailand is not tax payable. It's exempted by law. Some countries tax capital gains, but the Thai law has been there for many years as an incentive for a company to register itself in the stock market to exempt the capital gains tax.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6909258.ece?token=null&offset=120&page=11
