Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, sentenced last month to two years in jail for breaking a conflict of interest law, urged his supporters yesterday to help bring him home from exile in Britain.
Thaksin, who jumped bail to London in August, said the case against him was politically motivated by his opponents and the jail term was meant to keep him out of the country's political arena for at least ten years.
"Nobody can bring me home except Their Majesties' graciousness or the will of the people," Thaksin said in a 10-minute telephone call from Hong Kong to tens of thousands of supporters in red shirts at a Bangkok stadium.