Bangkok - Thailand's Supreme Court on Wednesday issued its sixth arrest warrant for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for not attending the first hearing in an abuse of power case involving his family's telecommunications empire. Thaksin, who has been in self-imposed exile in London since last month, did not appear at the first hearing on the Attorney General's suit against him for allegedly causing the state to lose 40 billion baht (1.2 billion dollars) in taxes by changing concession fees for Thai telecommunications firms in 2003.
Thaksin, who was premier for six years, was toppled in a bloodless military coup on September 19, 2006, on charges of mass corruption, dividing the nation, and undermining democracy and the monarchy.
He returned to Thailand in February this year after a government led by the pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP) was elected, but he fled to England on August 10 with his wife, Pojaman, days after she was sentenced to three years in jail on tax-evasion charges.
The Supreme Court's criminal division for political office holders had issued five previous arrest warrants for Thaksin for failing to attend various trials.
Thaksin made his personal fortune from government-granted telecommunications concessions run by his family-owned Shin Corp Group.
His decision to sell off the 49-per-cent family stake in Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in January 2006 in a tax-free, 2-billion-dollar deal sparked outrage among Bangkok's middle classes and political elite and arguably led to his political downfall.
Although Thaksin faces six arrest warrants and his wife faces a jail sentence in Thailand, Thaksin has yet to be found guilty of corruption in a court of law.
This might change on October 21 when the Supreme Court was scheduled to read its verdict in a land case.
In that case, Thaksin stands accused of abusing his position as prime minister in allowing his wife to bid on a plot of Bangkok land being sold at a public auction in 2003.
Pojaman won with a bid of 772 million baht (22.7 million dollars), deemed a bargain for the prime piece of land.
