See you in Bangkok!

       Nation editor THanong KHanthong Has an exclusive interview with Rakesh Saxena before the Canadian Supreme Court rules on his extradition.
       It was quite some time ago when we last talked. When I placed a call to Rakesh Saxena on Wednesday night, I was expecting that he might not be in any mood to talk to me. I had heard about his deteriorating health from his oversize and his drinking habit. The long course of his legal battle against the extradition charge from the Royal Thai Government was due for a decisive outcome in the following day.
       I always have his Vancouver number in my mobile. One of his bodyguards answered the phone.
       "Excuse me, who's speaking?" he asked. He was very polite.
       "I would like to talk to Mr Rakesh. Please tell him that my name is Thanong and I am calling from Bangkok. He knows me very well."
       "Ok, wait a moment."
       There was a series of slight beeping sound as my line was being transferred to Rakesh's phone. He picked up the phone. Over the next 10 minutes, he fired his words like a machine gun. I had a hard time keeping track with his rumbling over words in his throat.
       He still sounded like Rakesh, the same old Rakesh that I have known for almost two decades. As always, he was upbeat, straight to the point, daring and unemotional. His trademark is his boyish laugh "hehehehe" at the end of his "youknowwhatImean" sentence.
       He did not show the slightest sign of any worries. Everything he said was just a matter of fact.
       I asked him about the prospect of the extradition case. "The police and Thai authorities are making a big fuss in Bangkok. They are expecting to have you back in Bangkok," I told him.
       Indeed, the Thai authorities had staged a big PR stunt over this extradition case as if the Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa) would not grant him leave to appeal the deportation order. If Rakesh were to lose his appeal, he would be whisked away in his wheel chair to Bangkok immediately.
       Rakesh kept his cool. He was not worried at all.
       He said the Supreme Court of Canada would render its decision on the "application for Leave to Appeal" the lower court's decision on Thursday at 10.00 am Vancouver time.
       In June, the B.C. Court of Appeal rejected his bid to overturn earlier rulings upholding his removal.
       "If Leave is granted, then it will take another 47 months to pursue the Leave," he said. "If Leave is not granted, the legal process technically comes to a close."
       "That means I am going to see you in Bangkok," I said.
       "Yes, then nobody can do anything about it," he said.
       But he went further to explain that the decision is on Leave, in the first place; it is not a guilt or innocence decision.
       "The Supreme Court of Canada (Ottawa) only grants leave if the case is of national importancea different criteria altogether," he said.
       If Rakesh win his appeal for yet another time, chances are that he can delay the process until the statutory limitation of the case expires in July 2010. He has been arguing that he would be killed if he were sent back to Bangkok. Prison conditions in Thailand are also poor.
       Representatives from the police, the public prosecutors and the Foreign Ministry have already flown off to Vancouver to hear the verdict. Some Thai reporters have also flown to Beijing, hoping to join Rakesh and the Thai team on the conฌnecting flight back to Bangkok.
       For the Abhisit government, it is waiting for a big show time. Many members of the coalition partners (Phi Ban, Phi Ne, Phi Su, Phi Nan, for instance) have ties to BBC.
       BBC went into rampant high finance, sweet heart loans to the politicans and takeover deals until it lost its steam. The banking authorities eventually had to pay off almost Bt200 billion for the damage of BBC.
       Rakesh left Thailand in 1996, never to return. He is now being held as a "house arrest" in his luxury residence worth US$1.5 million. From his residence, before his health deteriorates, he continued to be active in making financial deals and write his columns in Cross Border Reports.
       If Rakesh were to make his presence in Bangkok, the politicians would not have any good sleep. The Democrats would have an upper hand over them.
       Rakesh has been fighting this protracted battle since 1996. Many people in Thailand, including me, have written off this case as something that would not make any progress nor would it ever end. Two other high profile extradition cases involve Pin Chakkaphak of the now defunct Finance One Group and Thaksin Shinawatra. Pin prevailed over the extradition charge in the UK court of justice. The peripatetic Thaksin has refused to become a sitting target, and the Thai authorities are reluctant to proceed with the extradition charge against him.
       "I have heard that your health is not good and that you have suffered from a stroke," I said.
       "Since suffering a stroke this March, the left side of the body is paralyzed and I am under heavy stroke-related medication and physiotherapy treatment," he said.
       As Rakesh is the Money Wizard, he can move the financial markets at his fingertip. If he loses his appeal at the Supreme Court, he might touch the "send" button from his computer screen since he has nothing else to lose.