No plans to return to politics, former Thai PM Thaksin tells FT

LONDON (AFP) - Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in an interview published in Monday's edition of the Financial Times that he had no plans to return to politics in his native country.

The former telecoms tycoon said he was more interested in his newly acquired Premiership football team, Manchester City.

He insisted he was "relieved" that he did not have to worry about "what should I do for my people, for my country?"

Military leaders ousted Thaksin last September, accusing him of corruption and abuse of power, and he has been living in London since.

Anti-graft investigators have already frozen at least 1.52 billion dollars (1.11 billion euros) of assets belonging to him and his family.

Thaksin's family earned 1.9 billion dollars when they sold his Shin Corp telecom giant to Singapore's Temasek Holdings, and the ex-prime minister denied any impropriety in the deal.

"All the allegations related to the Shin Corp. sale are politically motivated ... The sale of my family asset clearly happened in a professional way. In new modern capitalism, merger and acquisition is normal."

Thaksin said he was still debating whether or not to return to Thailand to face charges of corruption.

He said he had concerns about his personal safety, and feared that his return might spark confrontations between his followers and supporters of the military regime.

He described the draft for a new constitution unveiled by the military earlier this month as "step back" for democracy in the country.

The proposed constitution was "fruit from a poisoned tree" and an act of "political revenge" against him.

Thai voters should reject it and work to restore Thailand's 1997 constitution, he said.

The generals tossed out Thailand's 1997 constitution, widely hailed as the most democratic the kingdom had ever known, shortly after they seized power.