Edelman's Contract for Ousted Thai Leader Worth $300k

The global PR firm Edelman's six-month-long contract to help build international support for Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup, has been revealed as being worth $300,000. The contract is via Thaksin's law firm, Baker Botts. However, Edelman's success led to its Thai affiliate, Spindler & Associates (S&A), terminating its relationship with the firm. The head of S&A is Julian Spindler, whose wife is Kanjana Spindler, the Deputy Secretary General to the military-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. The Thai newspaper The Nation reports that Thaksin has also hired the U.S. law firm Barbour Griffith and Rogers, to "provide guidance and counsel with regard to Mr Thaksin's interest in Washington, DC, and abroad."