Japan is to issue a special entry permit to Thailand's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra after a request by the Thai government, Kyodo News reported Friday, citing unnamed government sources, according to dpa. Tokyo made the decision after considering Thaksin's political influence and Japan's relationship with Thailand's new government led by Yingluck Shinawatra, the kingdom's first female prime minister and his youngest sister, Kyodo reported. The report came two days after the swearing in of Thailand's new cabinet. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said earlier the government had received the request and would talk to the Thai government about whether to issue the permit. Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon who served as premier from 2001 to 2006 before he was toppled in a coup, has lived in Dubai since 2008 to avoid a two-year sentence on an abuse-of-power conviction. On Thursday, Thailand's new foreign minister, Surapong Tovichakchaikul, asked Japanese Ambassador Seiji Kojima to facilitate Thaksin's trip to Japan, Kyodo reported, citing unnamed sources. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi was quoted by Kyodo as saying Thursday he was unaware of the meeting between the new foreign minister and the Japanese ambassador. Japanese law does not permit the entry of a person who has been found guilty and given a jail term of more than one year. But, if circumstances requiring his or her entry are recognized, the justice minister can issue a special permit. Earlier this month, Hajime Ishii, a senior lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, met Prime Minister Naoto Kan and asked him to allow Thaksin's visit. "It is said that his entry is difficult. But Thailand is an important country and I told the premier to make a political decision," Ishii was quoted on August 3 by Kyodo as saying. Thaksin's Japanese supporters said that, if the former premier is allowed to come, he hopes to hold a news conference, speak at a lecture and visit Miyagi prefecture, which was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Kyodo reported. Thaksin has expressed a desire to be given an amnesty so he can return to Thailand soon, but this is likely to be strongly opposed by many of his political foes, including senior members of the kingdom's elite. Although living abroad to avoid prison, Thaksin is still deemed the de facto leader and chief financier of the Pheu Thai party, which won 265 of the 500 seats contested in last month's polls.
