Thaksin's Trip to Phnom Penh ''Strictly Business''
 Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to Phnom Penh earlier this month was purely a business trip and had no political overtones either within Cambodia or without, reported Phnom Penh Post website.
The former Thai leader was warmly received by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and swarmed by hundreds of Red Shirt activists who crossed the border to catch a glimpse of their spiritual leader in the Cambodian capital where he spent a four-days visit.
Thaksin himself described Cambodia as “like my home”, the Phnom Penh Post reported, moments after he and Hun Sen had hugged each other upon the former's arrival to Peace Palace. Most interesting about his visit, the Cambodian website said, was a focus on economic matters. A Cambodian government official was quoted as saying Thaksin flew his private jet to Phnom Penh only to talk business, literally, and no politics, as the media speculated. “Thaksin has nothing do with state issues, only business.
We don't have any interest in Thaksin other than his ideas on economics,” Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan said over the weekend. Phay Siphan described the former Thai premier as an economist. "We'd rather regard him as kind of an ASEAN economics guru.'' Thaksin’s meetings with senior Cambodian officials and others in the neighboring state were largely held behind closed doors, including his economics lectures at the Asian Economic Forum and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Very little was known of his perspectives for Thailand, Cambodia or the ASEAN community except for what was heard in the initial part of his speech, to which members of the press were allowed access, according to the news website.
Thaksin was not only widely known in Thailand but in the international community as a populism preacher which considerably benefitted the grassroot Thais during his premiership which lasted from 2001 until 2006. His populist campaign has been reintroduced by the newly-elected, Puea Thai-led government headed by his youngest sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
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