Thread: Thailand denies $640,000 fee for Blair to address forum

Thailand denies $640,000 fee for Blair to address forum
Sunday, 18 August 2013

BANGKOK: Thailand has denied it will pay former British Prime Minister Tony Blair $640,000 to speak at an upcoming government-sponsored forum in Bangkok on bridging the kingdom’s festering political divides.

A lawmaker from Thailand’s opposition Democrat party last week alleged 20m baht ($640,000) had been put aside in the budget to pay controversial ex-premier Blair, a claim refuted by the government. Several dignitaries will take part in the one-day ‘unity forum’ a foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday, adding none “will receive any extra pay”.

Thailand will only “offer them air tickets, accommodation and transportation while they are here,” spokesman Manasavi Srisodapol added. Nobel Peace Prize-winning Finnish ex-president, Martti Ahtisaari, and Priscilla Hayner -- an expert in truth and reconciliation commissions -- will be among the guests, he said. The one-day September 2 forum is being convened to find a way through the political turmoil which has gripped the kingdom since a 2006 military coup toppled Thailand’s divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The kingdom has been beset by bitter political divisions since, heightened by a 2010 crackdown on Thaksin supporting ‘Red Shirt’ protesters in Bangkok which left 90 people dead and around 1,900 injured.

The current government, led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, faced street protests on August 7 against an amnesty bill it has backed in parliament lifting responsibility for the political violence from everyone but its leaders. A spokesman for Tony Blair, who as premier was heavily criticised for backing the invasion of Iraq but praised for his role in a peace process in Northern Ireland, said he was “delighted” to accept the government invite to Thailand.

It is understood that Blair, now an international Middle East peace envoy and also one of the world’s best paid public speakers, will have only his travel and accommodation costs paid for.

thepeninsulaqatar.com

I thought Blair had already backed out of this event...

No, Kofi Annan did. Blair won't miss an opportunity to blow his own trumpet

Blair is a fixer and has fingers in pies all over the world .
he may not get a direct payment but a deal will be done to exact some cash for a deal later

Originally Posted by chingching

Blair is a fixer and has fingers in pies all over the world .

Blair's a murdering son of satan who should be put down like a dog.

^ makes Thatcher sound like a saint

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

No, Kofi Annan did. Blair won't miss an opportunity to blow his own trumpet

On a more perplexing note.....who, in their right mind, would be stimulated by the same old establishment rhetoric and continued promotion thereof.

Unless their existence is already saturated by this flavour of Kool-Aid.
Drones.

The prick should be in prison.

As well they might- why would you even grant that wanker a visa?

Originally Posted by gaysexbyproxy

I thought Blair had already backed out of this event...

If he's not getting paid (now that he"s been outed) no doubt he'll find some excuse for being unable to attend. Blair and Brown are chasing the money these days.

They should have invited Jimmy Carter, one of the few decent ex pols.