'Thaksin to return as PM in 18 mnths'

London: An astrologer of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said that he will return to power after 18 months.

Phra Khru Wichitsuthakarn, 64, is the abbot of a monastery around two hours north of Bangkok, and one of the kingdom's foremost soothsayers.

According to The Independent, Shinawatra consulted Wichitsuthakarn a fortnight ago and was told then to be careful.

"I warned him before the coup to be careful, there will be enemies who want to attack you but they won't kill or hurt you. After this period, be careful of the revolution," Wichitsuthakarn was quoted as saying

The week before the coup, launched by the head of the armed forces, an attempt was allegedly made to assassinate Thaksin with a bomb.

"I suggested he change where he sleeps, where he stays, and that he go travelling temporarily," the monk said. "Of course he believed it. He went outside Bangkok and stayed in the villages; he went abroad."

The abbot glossed over the fact that his advice had not saved the prime minister's job. "He couldn't stop the revolution happening - it has to happen this way," he said.

Shinawatra's government was overthrown by the Thai Army on Tuesday while he was away attending the UN General Assembly session in New York.

But Phra Khru Wichitsuthakarn said the bad influence would wane from April 16 next year, "and he will be the prime minister again".