Thaksin 'has no plan' to go to Cambodia

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has no plan to visit Cambodia at this time, says his close aide and legal adviser Noppadon Pattama.

Mr Noppadon said Thaksin told him over the phone around 3pm yesterday he would not travel to Cambodia from Friday to Sunday or after his trip to Japan, as reported in the media.

Thaksin is scheduled to visit Japan from Monday to Friday.

Mr Noppadon also denied reports that Thaksin planned to discuss a business deal on petroleum resource development in the overlapping maritime area between Thailand and Cambodia.

"He is fully aware of the situation in Thailand and does not want to be a target of opposition attacks," Mr Noppadon said.

The former prime minister did not want to cause the government, led by his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra, to worry about him.

Thaksin wanted to see the government direct all its efforts to helping the public, he said.

When asked which country Thaksin would go to after visiting Japan, Mr Noppadon said he did not know.

On Thaksin's plan to return to Thailand, the former prime minister would return to the kingdom "when the time was right", Mr Noppadon said. He insisted his boss would not do anything to obstruct the government's efforts to solve the country's problems.