
BANGKOK Thailand's military government has hammered out a 68 billion baht ($2.04 billion) infrastructure plan that many see as an attempt to draw support away from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The plan was announced just as the trial of Thaksin's younger sister, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was coming to a head. The verdict on her responsibility regarding a botched rice subsidy program was due on Aug. 25, but Yingluck reportedly fled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where Thaksin resides.