Thaksin Shinawatra is confident his fight for "real democracy" is about to end in peace but says there's a slim chance that a new military coup could push things back to square one.
The fugitive former prime minister made the comments in an exclusive interview with Isra News Agency on Friday evening in San Francisco.
Describing current political tensions as "a tug-of-war for democracy", he said that only someone who was on ya ba (methamphetamine) would ever consider leading a new coup to topple the government.
Unlike in the past, members of the public were now more actively involved in democratic activities, said Thaksin who was overthrown in the Sept 19, 2006 coup.
He gave the interview while having dinner with a group Asian-American businesspeople at a Thai restaurant in North Beach in the northeast of San Francisco.
Thaksin was on a trip to the US to meet with his red shirt supporters there, he said.
Asked whether the Pheu Thai Party government led by his sister Yingluck should withdraw controversial reconciliation bills amid growing protests by its opponents, Thaksin said there was no need to withdraw the bills.
However, there was no need to rush them either, he added.
In fact, the bills should be kept in parliament so that the people protesting against them would have to wait outside day and night for fear that they would be passed, said Thaksin half-jokingly.
So should the third and final reading of the constitutional amendment bill, said Thaksin, until the government finds the best solution as to what to do with it.
The law requires the vote on the final reading of the bill must be done within 15 days, but it did not necessarily meant the bill would have to be pulled if the vote was not conducted in time he said.
Thaksin said that in his view, the main obstacle to the government in its work to develop the country was the constitution, which should have been more democratic than it was.
"It's like a house built with a lot of landmines in there. It's going to be hard to do anything," he said.
He acknowledged that changes were needed in some cabinet positions and some former Thai Rak Thai executives would be among the new faces in the cabinet.
Ms Yingluck was still waiting for the right timing to reshuffle her cabinet, he said.
Thaksin also said he expected to visit Myanmar, just across the border from Chiang Rai, around the end of the year.
The self-exiled billionaire this year has already touched down in border towns in Laos and Cambodia to greet legions of red-shirt faithful and political supplicants.