TOKYO, July 5: Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Thursday he will only return to Thailand to face corruption charges if he can be sure of a fair trial. “If I go back (now), it means that I will not be getting a fair trial anyway,” Thaksin said in an interview with Kyodo News during a visit to Japan.

“I will return to face the facts and trial if and when the justice system goes back to normal,” he said. Thaksin was ousted in a military-backed bloodless coup in September while he was out of Thailand and the junta has subsequently laid a raft of corruption charges against him. He and his wife Pojaman are both outside the country, but have been ordered to appear before police by July 27 to hear fraud charges.

Thaksin also delivered a speech on Thursday at a Tokyo university where he has been appointed visiting professor, calling for Asia to create an environment in which venture capital can thrive.

“We have to provide the mechanism that allows to create a more entrepreneurial class here in Asia,” Thaksin told students at Takushoku University.

—AFP