The public relations company Edelman [3] has confirmed that its Washington and Hong Kong offices are handling media relations for the deposed Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra [4]. A September 2006 military coup saw Thaksin, a controversial media mogul and politician, toppled from power while he was in New York. "We are supporting him as a private citizen in his efforts to return back to his home country," said Alan VanderMolen from Edelman Asia-Pacific. The Thai paper The Nation reports [5] that Barbour, Griffith and Rogers [6] is also working for Thaskin, to "promote democracy in Asia." While Thaksin was popular in rural areas, he was also noted for suppressing critical media [7] and launching a brutal military response to increasing violence in the largely Muslim south of the country.