Bangkok - Thailand will run an ethical foreign policy untainted by personal business interests, the likely new foreign minister, former diplomat Kasit Piromya, said Friday.

Kasit said foreign policy moves made by the previous governments controlled by fugitive billionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra were compromised by his personal interests.

"From now on there will be no personal business dealings on the side. This government will not mix business and politics," Kasit told an academic conference.

Former prime minister Thaksin was frequently accused of using official state trips to promote his family's sprawling telecoms empire, before it was sold two years ago.

Investigators, appointed by a military junta that overthrew Thaksin in a September 2006 coup, said he had arranged soft state loans to Myanmar on condition that some of the money was used to buy equipment from his Shin Corp. Thaksin was also accused of turning away from Mynamar's democracy movement in favour of the military regime.

"We will have no (personal) business deals with the junta. We will observe human rights and environmental concerns. What we do to Thai people, we will do similarly to Burmese people," Kasit said.

Thailand's young new prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had the "clarity of morals and clarity of leadership" to be an outstanding leader of the country, he said.

The Democrat Party will dominate the new government but will for the foreseeable future depend on coalition partners of dubious integrity for power, according to Thai pundits.

Kasit played down fears that junior political partners would use their power for personal gain. "Ministries will not become concessions to be exploited for personal gain. We believe in joint responsibility. There will be no sharing out of the spoils, just as there will be no semblance of conflict of interest. This will be a very transparent government," he said.

A coalition government led by the Democrat Party gained power after a Thai court dissolved the leading People Power Party for electoral fraud on December 2.

The judicial destruction of the PPP came after controversial anti-government protests that culminated in the seizure and closure of Bangkok's two airports.

Kasit has been criticized for brazenly championing the anti-government protests, which were themselves opposed by groups backed by the rural poor who invariably voted Thaksin-backed parties into power. Although the Democrat Party has benefited from the ousting of an elected government, it distanced itself from the months-long protests. (dpa)