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Published on August 2, 2007

Army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has ordered an investigation into Lieutenant Sunisa Lertpakawat, who is the author of the newly published "Thaksin, Where Are You?"

[Watch Sunisa's interview (in Thai)]

The investigation will focus on Sunisa's visit to London to interview Thaksin for the book without prior approval from her immediate superiors, Sonthi said.

"Thaksin, Where Are You?" hit bookstores yesterday, offering a glimpse into the daily life of the former PM, who is now living in exile in London.

Sonthi said Sunisa, who is posted in the Army Secretariat Office, had not

received proper authorisation from her boss to interview Thaksin in England.

Meanwhile, Sunisa told The Nation online that she travelled to England at her own expense and, after "crying and begging" and long negotiations with his secretary, was granted two interview sessions with Thaksin, each lasting about seven hours, in May and June.

Sunisa said she had always aspired to become a writer. She had saved her own money and paid Bt100,000 for her travel expenses to London. Learning that the Army would order an investigation into her and the book, Sunisa said she accepted any investigation or punishment from her superiors.

"I've already extended my apology to my senior officer for not informing him about the book and my visit to London," she said.

Sonthi told reporters that he would not order the book to be withdrawn from bookstore shelves.

Sunisa first contacted Thaksin's lawyer Noppadol Pattama about a project to interview him in London. But the plan did not work out. Later she tried to get in touch with Phadoong Limcharoenrat, Thaksin's secretary. Again, her proposal did not work out.

By the end of May, she had decided to travel to London independently to try to interview Thaksin. At that time, the Constitution Tribunal was deliberating on the election fraud case against the Thai Rak Thai Party.

"I planned my work very well because if I were to have an opportunity to interview him about that legal case, it would get attention from the public," she said.

She insisted that she had never known Thaksin before. Eventually, he allowed her to interview him.

"I would like to explain to those who do not like Thaksin that if they read this book, they will find that it is not trying to make any excuse for him. It is just a pocket book that offers a view on Thaksin so that people can learn something," she said.

"I just wrote the book based on the interview, from his own words, without deciding on what was factual or non-factual."

Sunisa said it would have cost her another Bt100,000 to publish 3,000 copies of the book. However, she did not have a lot of money, so she decided to publish only 1,000 copies.

"Nobody sponsored my trip," she said.

However, Sunisa has found instant fame as an author. One of the most talked-about sections of her book is Thaksin's revelation that he knows the singer Lydia (pictured with Thaksin above) and likes to sing karaoke songs with her.