In its 23rd decree, the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) yesterday set up a special assets investigation panel to review all projects approved by the Thaksin government.

The decree states that the Thaksin cabinets and ministers of the Thaksin government were suspected of abusing their authority to seek vested interests, so the CDRM had set up a special panel to review all projects approved by them.

The assets probe committee is chaired by Sawat Chotephanich and has seven other members: the auditor-general, the attorney-general, the secretary-general of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), the secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), the secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the central bank governor and the judge advocate-general.

Sawat is a former chairman of the election commission.

The investigation must be completed within one year. Failing this, the panel's files must be submitted to the NCCC, AMLO and the auditor-general, which will further probe the projects and take action if necessary.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra may have whisked some of his assets out of the country aboard two aircraft days before a military coup ousted him from power, airline officials said yesterday.

An official from Thai Airways International, who demanded anonymity because company policy did not allow him to speak to the press, said he wanted the ruling military council to investigate the matter.

Speculation has been rife that Thaksin may have sneaked money out of the country in the days leading up to the coup, but there has been no confirmation from the council.

Immigration laws ban Thais from taking more than Bt50,000 out of the country if they go abroad.

Thaksin departed for Finland to begin a foreign tour on September 9, loading up his government-assigned aircraft with 58 large suitcases and trunks, the official of the national carrier said.

The prime minister's aircraft, named "Thai Koofah", was then inexplicably left parked in Finland for more than a week as Thaksin continued on his trip on other transportation.

A second aircraft carrying 56 suitcases, an Airbus 340-600, was dispatched from Bangkok to meet up with the prime minister just days before the coup, the official said.

Another official in the airline industry, requesting anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, confirmed the second flight, saying it left on September 17 - two days before the coup.

It was unclear why Thaksin needed a second aircraft when his own plane was already assigned to fly him to Europe and the United States.

Speculation has surfaced about whether Thaksin knew of the coup in advance and moved some of his assets out of the country.

Asked about Thaksin taking his assets abroad, ruling military council spokesman Lt-General Palanggoon Klaharn responded: "No comment. I can't comment on that."

The military council said it would launch an investigation into alleged wrongdoing under Thaksin's government, which critics charge was riddled with corruption and abuse of power.

A spokeswoman for the airline said she was not aware of the events "and even if true, Thai Airways would only report it to the [council], not to the media". She said company policy did not allow her to use her name.

The official said it was not known what was taken aboard the second aircraft because only Thaksin's aides, citing security concerns, were allowed to supervise the loading.

"I want the [military] council to investigate this because we, the employees of Thai Airways International, believe that Thaksin exploited the company through his power as prime minister by using a company aeroplane to transport his assets out of the country," the official said.

Air Force spokesman Captain Pongsak Semachai said "Thai Koofah" arrived back in Thailand several days ago, but declined to give the exact date.

Earlier, one of Thaksin's staunchest opponents, publishing tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul, alleged the former leader had chartered two Russian aircraft to take some of his assets out of Thailand.

Sondhi, a key leader of mass street demonstrations against Thaksin earlier this year, made the allegations on his weekly television programme a week before Thaksin departed for Finland and repeated them the following week.

Rumours of such an airlift by Russian aircraft have continued to circulate in the international airline community in Bangkok but could not be confirmed.

Thaksin's family is among the country's wealthiest. In 2004, Forbes magazine ranked him the 16th-richest man in Southeast Asia.

In January, he sold the centrepiece of his empire - telecom giant Shin Corp - to Singapore's state investment company, Temasek Holdings, for a tax-free Bt73.3 billion.

The head of the Bank of Thailand, Pridiyathorn Devakula, has said the proceeds from the sale were probably still in Thailand.

"I estimate that no large amount of Thai baht has been converted into overseas currencies. However, I don't know whether the money could have been packed in suitcases and taken abroad," he said last week.

Thaksin and one of his children have stayed in London since the coup, while his wife and two other children remain in Bangkok.

Attorney-General Pachara Yutithamdamrong yesterday said he had instructed special public prosecutors to be prepared to work on a number of corruption cases that the Office of the Auditor-General and the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) are expected to press against members of the Thaksin government. He said that all the cases against the politicians would be tried under the Supreme Court's Criminal Tribunal for Political Office Holders.

NCCC commissioner Vicha Mahakun said that although the NCCC has over 10,000 cases, it would treat corruption cases against politicians and high-ranking officials as the most urgent.

The Nation, Associated Press