Bangkok - The
United Arab Emirates has asked convicted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra to leave Dubai, where he has lived in self-imposed exile for more than a year, Thai government officials said Saturday. "They have asked him to leave," Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Phongpakdi said. "We hear that he will be leaving
Dubai soon, but we do not know where he is going next."
The eviction notice came at a time when the Thai government is facing tens of thousands of pro-Thaksin protestors who are descending on
Bangkok this weekend with the aim of toppling the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Thaksin used his
Twitter blog Saturday to deny reports that the United Arab Emirates had asked him to leave, but he did admit that he was leaving soon for Europe to visit his daughters.
Thaksin's two daughters are currently in Germany, according to Thai media reports.
Thaksin, a fugitive from a two-year jail sentence in Thailand, has had his Thai passport revoked. The billionaire allegedly has several other passports, including one from Nicaragua, that he may travel on.
"Wherever he goes, we hope that country will not let themselves be used as a platform from which he can conduct his political activities," Thani said.
While in Dubai, Thaksin, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, played a role in organizing anti-government protests and acted as the de facto leader of the Puea Thai opposition party.
He is also known to be one of the key financiers behind the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), which hoped to to draw 1 million anti-government demonstrators to the capital this weekend.
Observers said 300,000 were more likely.
The UDD is a mass movement whose broad goals are to force Abhisit to resign and new elections to be called to pave the way for a political comeback for Thaksin.
Thaksin is a former police officer turned telecommunications billionaire turned politician who introduced populist policies to Thailand's money-driven political equation.
He continues to hold sway over millions of the country's urban and rural poor who benefited from his policies, but he also enjoys
support from a broad spectrum of the Thai society intent on bringing about a more democratic, egalitarian society and overthrowing the political elite.
Thaksin was toppled in a military coup in September 2006 and has been living in exile, mostly in Dubai, since August that year to avoid a two-year jail sentence on abuse-of-power charges.
