Ex-Thai PM 'plans city in Cambodia'

Source : SMH.com.au

Thailand's ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is planning to build a "modern city" in neighbouring Cambodia, replete with a financial district and port, an official said.

The businessman, who owns English football club Manchester City, told Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen of his plans for Koh Kong province, near the Thai border, during a meeting on Friday in the capital Phnom Penh.

"He did not say how much money will be invested, he just told Prime Minister Hun Sen about his plan," Hun Sen's spokesman, Eang Sophalleth, told AFP.

Thaksin, joined by other Thai investors, told Hun Sen the planned city would include a financial centre, hospital, schools and housing, he said.

A port to be used for fixing ships would also be included, he said.

Eang Sophalleth said Hun Sen welcomed the plan, asking Thaksin to work on his project with the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).

Thaksin was toppled in a military coup in September 2006 and went into self-imposed exile in Britain.

The 58-year-old former Thai premier returned to Bangkok in late February after his allies swept back into power in elections late last year.