His first stop on Monday, April 24, will be London, where he will meet with Tony Blair, the British prime minister. On the following Tuesday, he will head to Paris to meet with Jacque Chirac, the French leader.

In the same evening, Thaksin will leave for Moscow. On April 27, Thaksin will fly to Japan and will leave for China on the same day. He will take a rest in China on April 28 before heading home on April 29. And on April 30, he will leave again for the Philippines.

Thaksin is seeking to augment his role in the international arena following his decision not to assume the premiership in the next government, although his Thai Rak Thai Party won a majority in the April 2 snap election.

"I am going to meet with the global leaders as friends. I will discuss with them about the confusing political situation in Thailand," he said.

"They would like to know first hand what is happening in our country. Why is it so strange? They would like to know the reality because when they read the newspapers they can't make any sense out of it."

Thaksin will be absent from attending the annual convention of the Thai Rak Thai Party on Tuesday. But he has assigned one of the deputy party leaders to chair the annual convention.

"Don't ask me anything about politics. I am an unemployed. Politics has gone crazy. Thai Rak Thai is not a naughty boy. We have been following the democratic rules all the way," he added.

 This marks his second foreign trip in a month as Thaksin aims to reduce the political pressure at home where the election results show Thailand is still facing a political crisis. Thaksin has been making a series of tactical retreat after he has lost confidence from the Thai elite, the intellectuals and the middleclass over his family's taxfree sale of Shin Corp to Temasek of Singapore.

During the Songkran Holiday Festival, Thaksin made his trip to the UK and the United States, where he was greeted with both welcome and protest signs from the Thai people there.

Thaksin said he knows all the global leaders rather well because of the cooperation over the past five years between Thailand and their countries.

"Since we know each other well, we should call on for a meeting and have coffee together. They are willing to welcome me. When I asked for the appointments, they readily agreed to meet me," Thaksin said.

In the Philippines, he will meet President Macapagal Arroyo and the Malaysian leader, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi who happens to be in Manila during that time.

The Nation