Thaksin flies in by private jet for inspection of Dawei port

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Dawei in Myanmar on Thursday, reportedly to inspect the progress of the Dawei deep-sea port project.


A report by Myanmar-based Eleven Media said that Thaksin and his entourage were welcomed by project development committee members at Dawei airport after flying in by private jet from Yangon.

The deep-sea port will be built on a 25-square kilometre site that includes the coastal area of Dawei beach, a forest and an old oil palm plantation.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) entity was set up earlier this month in Thailand to handle all the project management after Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD) struggled for two years to get the project off the ground.

All investments in Dawei will be transferred to the SPV, in which the Thai and Myanmar governments would hold equal shares, expected to be 30% each.

Official details of Thaksin's visit to the port, or the reason for it, have not been released.

According to media outlet Dawei Watch, Thaksin visited islands along Maungmagan seashore and is believed to have met with the authorities of the deep-sea port yesterday, but an ITD official declined to confirm this.

A Dawei Watch reporter there said Thaksin did not return from the islands to Dawei yesterday.

A Tanintharyi region government minister told Dawei Watch that he did not know of Thaksin's visit and had no plans to meet him.