Thaksin's court swipe a case of bad judgment?

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK (Reuters) - He skipped bail and fled into exile in London, but what really signalled the end of Thaksin Shinawatra's political comeback hopes was his parting swipe at Thailand's Supreme Court.

No one criticises the courts in Thailand, but if you're a former prime minister trying to clear your name in a slew of graft cases that followed a military coup, it's tantamount to blowing up the only bridge leading back home.

"He has defamed the court and so he's gone for good," Thaksin biographer and political analyst Chris Baker said after the 59-year-old telecoms billionaire failed to appear with his wife, Potjaman, at the Supreme Court on Monday.

Prosecutors allege that Potjaman, who was sentenced to three years in jail last month for tax fraud in another case, bought a prime piece of Bangkok real estate for a knock-down price from the government while Thaksin was in power.

The couple's trial will continue in their absence, and Thaksin's comments in a hand-written statement faxed to television stations from Britain will not endear the judges to his pleas of innocence.

In the note, he alleged that the cases building up against him and his inner circle were part of a plot by his political enemies -- namely, the royalist military elite that masterminded the September 2006 coup -- to "finish myself and my family".

"He is quite an emotional fellow, and he has lashed out very often in the past," Baker said.

"LOTS OF JUSTICE"