Bangkok  - Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on Saturday left the United Arab Emirates for Nicaragua, where he has been granted a diplomatic passport, media reports said.

Thaksin has been in the United Arab Emirates for the past month, the Arabian Business magazine said.

Pattaya , Thailand - There will be no reconciliation talks with fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra after a sharp escalation of anti-government protests in Bangkok and the nearby resort city of Pattaya aimed at disrupting a regional summit, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Friday. A large group of pro-Thaksin demonstrators attempted Friday to gain entry into the meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with its dialogue partners, which include China and Japan.

Bangkok  - Thailand's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has rejected a government offer of reconciliation talks, asking instead for a massive show of protest support, media reports said Saturday.

Thaksin used a video link to tell a protest rally in Bangkok that negotiations were impossible because the future of the country was as stake.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday he would welcome any moves to defuse political tensions with mediated talks, and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban had earlier offered to talk to Thaksin personally.

Bangkok  - Thailand's anti-government Red Shirt movement is ready for six months of countrywide protests to force a new election and defeat their critics, Jakrapob Penkair, a leader of political group loyal to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said Thursday.

Jakrapob's group - the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship - is now focused on a creating a huge show of popular anger against an "illegitimate government" next Wednesday, he said.

Bangkok  - Coup-ousted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra Thursday thanked the military for freezing his fortune in Thai banks, thus saving it from unwise investments in stocks.

"I don't know whether I should condemn or thank the military junta when they froze my assets in Thailand, otherwise I probably would have invested a lot in the stock exchange and lost it," Thaksin said, in a live televised speech to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong that was relayed on to Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.