Thaksin makes a narrow getaway

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra isn’t exactly wanted in twelve star systems, but he has been doing a lot of traveling in order to avoid capture by the authorities. He’s generally been successful so far, having outwitted the fuzz on multiple occasions. But, according to German reports, the man convicted on corruption charges (and sentenced to two years) in absentia may have been sighted in Bonn last week:

Thaksin’s whereabouts had been a mystery since he ended a sojourn in London late last year. Friedel Frechen, a municipal spokesman in Bonn, said Thaksin showed up at the city immigration office last December 29 and applied for a residency permit.“

The permit was granted, and Thaksin stayed in Germany for the better part of a year before government officials discovered his true identity. Their method? One of Thaksin’s escorts at the immigration office claimed to be a member of the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence unit.

Seeing as how the BND would probably, you know, recognize a former head of state, he might have picked a better cover.

DAILY MAIL