'The Asian peoples have to put conflicts aside. They have to be forward-looking, to be constructive, to be creative, to be innovative and to ride on the wave of change,' he said during a lecture at a small private university here.

'Don't sink under the wave,' he added.

He stressed that he wanted to send this message not only to all Asian countries, but also to the military junta in Thailand.

Thaksin was ousted as premier last September by the military junta in a bloodless coup.

Yesterday afternoon, he turned up at Takushoku University's campus in central Tokyo to deliver the last of a series of special lectures on the theme, Industry and People.

Dressed in a dark business suit and looking relaxed, he joked at the beginning that the guest lecturer job was his first since his ouster.

'I tried to employ myself as chairman of Manchester City. But Takushoku was quicker,' he told the audience of some 400 students and teachers in the packed auditorium, with another 200 students listening in an adjoining room. No questions were allowed from the floor.

He was referring to his expected takeover of the British football club, which is due to be completed these few days.

Thaksin has travelled extensively in the past nine months. After spending a month in London following the coup, he has popped up in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and China.

His private visit to Singapore in January strained bilateral ties, with Thailand later scrapping a public servant exchange programme.

A Hakka, he has visited Japan several times and appears to be well taken care of by the Thai Hakka community here.

He revealed that the university had asked him to speak about his experiences during his premiership as well.

'But it would take me six hours, with translation, to finish my lecture,' he said.

He spent 90 minutes talking about economic policies, including his efforts to help the poor in rural Thailand. He admitted, however, that his policies did not go down well with the educated elite in urban areas.

Describing the different economic models in Asia, he cited the example of Singapore, where he said the government had a successful policy of investing in sectors that private companies were not ready to go into.

His message to the students was: 'In this modern world, you have to move fast. If you are big and you move quickly, you win the game.'

Only once during the lecture did he make a veiled reference to the current situation in his country, saying the use of military force to win prestige and power was a step back for Thailand and potentially dangerous.

'If you try to win the prestige game with tanks and guns, it is not going to work any more. Finally, the country will go down.'

But after ending his lecture, he briefly let slip his unhappiness with the fact that his assets have been frozen and that the Thai government has demanded his return to face graft charges.

'I wish I had more time to speak about my experiences and tell you my negative side as well. Now I am being arrested for corruption, when in fact it is my own money,' he said.

wengkin@sph.com.sg