[Extinimot]

Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived on Saturday in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where thousands of his supporters were waiting to greet him.

He was welcomed by red-shirts from Surin province who were waiting for him at the City Angkor Hotel since the morning.

Thaksin was scheduled to take to the stage to talk to his supporters at a local stadium at 5pm. A Buddhist ceremony with 260 monks from Angkor Wat and a Songkran water-pouring ceremony for Thaksin are planned in Siem Reap on Sunday.

Thaksin supporters have been traveling to Siem Reap via road from Thailand since Wednesday. Provincial authorities have set aside a 22-hectare campsite for them about two kilometres outside of Siem Reap.

The Phnom Penh government has said that it will foot the bill to provide crowd control and protection for the deposed Thai leader, who has strong links to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Reports said as many as 4,500 Cambodian security personnel could be involved, with observers forecasting as many as 50,000 Thai supporters of Thaksin descending on the area near Angkor Wat.

"We have a duty to provide security for Thai people and for Thaksin," national police spokesman Kirt Chantharith told AFP.

He said there was no specific threat to anyone's safety, but noted that the red shirts had a long-standing rivalry with Thai political opponents.

"This is a huge and historical event," he said. "Many thousands of security forces will be in place."

The Cambodian government is also olffering free admission to Angkor Wat for visiting red shirts. A day pass to the Unesco World Heritage Site normally costs US$20.

Veteran politician Snoh Thienthong, advisory chairman of the Pheu Thai Party, and Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri earlier Saturday crossed into Cambodia via the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint.

A large number of Pheu Thai MPs have also made the pilgrimage.

Members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) from 20 northeastern provinces travelled in more than 200 buses, vans and private cars across the Chong Sangam border checkpoint, according to MCOT.

Thaksin arrived in Cambodia from Laos, where he told supporters that he hoped to be back in Thailand in time to celebrate his birthday on July 26.

"He's trying to come back this year so you can see this tour as a trial balloon," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

Opposition figures in Cambodia have questioned the wisdom of the government rolling out the red carpet for Thaksin and appearing to back one side in a political dispute in another country.

Kem Sokha, president of the opposition Human Rights Party, said this weekend’s gathering could harm Cambodia’s relationship with Thailand in the future.

"No one can hold power for good," he was quoted as saying by Voice of America.

"There will be a leadership change in that country. For us, as a country, we are supporting one group and confronting another group. One day, when [the second] group wins and leads the country, what will they think?"

Lao Monghay, an independent analyst, told VoA: "If a Cambodian group banned from returning to Cambodia [rallied] in Thailand, what would we think? It would be a jumbled relationship."

[Extinimot]

Despite delivering a speech to a crowd of red shirts saying such an "auspicious" year as this might be the right time to come home, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra denies this implies he is planning an early return.

Thaksin said he hoped good things would happen to him on what he said was an auspicious year for Thailand.

He noted that 2012 will mark the 80th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen and the 60th birthday of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.

He said yesterday that in such a year disputes should be settled and left behind.

"It is an auspicious year and good things should happen [in such a year]. As a Buddhist I try to think about auspicious things," he said.

Thaksin gave alms to monks yesterday in Cambodia's Siem Reap province with several thousand red shirt supporters who had flocked across the border to celebrate the New Year with him.

The former prime minister conceded he desired greatly to return to his homeland but said he needed to wait for a better atmosphere.

"Sure, I want to return home very much, but I want to come back when I can walk freely on the streets, not just sitting in a bulletproof car," he said.

Suriyasai Katasila, a former key member of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy and now of the Green Politics group, said Thaksin appears to be pushing hard for reconciliation because the popularity of his sister's administration is on the wane.

He said Thaksin sees the need to seize the advantage of Pheu Thai Party's absolute majority in the House to force through an amnesty plan and charter amendments while he can.

Mr Suriyasai also called on the public to read between the lines when Thaksin talked about this as an auspicious year.

He called the remark an old trick to set the stage for an amnesty.

"It indicates how he plans to come back in style," said Mr Suriyasai.

The ousted leader maintained his innocence yesterday, rejecting a call for him to return to Thailand and serve a two-year jail term to help further the cause of national reconciliation.

Thaksin said such an action was unnecessary as he had not done anything wrong. He called the country's justice system unfair.

"I didn't do anything wrong. If the justice system is just, there is no need to be afraid if we haven't done anything wrong," he said.

The former leader insisted he would not take any political posts after returning to Thailand. Instead he plans on limiting his role to acting as an adviser to his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck.

He also admitted yesterday there was little he could do to secure the release of Veera Somkwamkid, the coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon.

The two have been imprisoned in Cambodia since December 2010, charged with illegal entry and espionage.

Thaksin said his efforts were futile, as Veera and Ratree did not accept the charges. Under Cambodian law, a pardon can be granted only when convicts admit wrongdoing, he explained.

He claimed to have brought up the matter with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has called the ex-premier an "eternal friend", but Phnom Penh could not break the law to favour the two Thais.

"Mr Veera doesn't accept wrongdoing. I don't know what to do because Cambodia really wants to help," he said.

"There's only one way I can help, which is to seek a pardon. That means he has to admit it [that he was wrong]."

Meanwhile, Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday urged Ms Yingluck to exercise political leadership and do her job after returning to work at the end of the Songkran holiday.

Mr Abhisit said the prime minister had not been active enough over the past nine months in office, claiming she seemed unable to communicate with people to get things done.

Ms Yingluck also avoided parliamentary meetings, which made her an irresponsible leader, he said.

"Now that she is here she should work to the best of her ability. I think Thai society is okay with [her] making mistakes as long as [she] is doing her job in good faith," he said.