BANGKOK: Thailand’s influential former premier Thaksin Shinawatra flew out of the country on Thursday (Sep 4), police said, a day before a parliamentary vote for the next prime minister and ahead of a court ruling that could see him jailed.
The departure of the billionaire Thaksin, who spent a total of 15 years in self-imposed exile, comes as the coalition government of the ruling Pheu Thai party he founded is in turmoil, facing a major challenge from a rival party ahead of Friday’s vote.
On Tuesday next week, the Supreme Court will rule on a case involving Thaksin that could potentially see him serve prison time, which he avoided following his vaunted return to Thailand in 2023 by spending months in hospital on medical grounds.
Thaksin flew out of Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 7.17pm local time on a private jet, after authorities confirmed that he did not have any court order prohibiting him from leaving the country, police said in a statement.
His aircraft, which police said was numbered T7GTS, was seen initially flying towards Singapore but then travelled over Malaysia and made a number of loops on the Andaman Sea before heading further west, according to online flight trackers.
Thaksin’s lawyer, Winyat Chatmontree, told Reuters he was not aware of Thaksin leaving the country, but said that the former premier had said he would go to court next week.
A Pheu Thai spokesperson declined to comment on Thaksin’s movements.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailands-influential-ex-premier-thaksin-shinawatra-leaves-country-amid-turmoil-5332986
