Bangkok - Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra is in Dubai, from where he will address his supporters on December 10, a colleague of his said Monday. The host of the Truth Today talk show, Jaturporn Promphan, who is also a member of parliament in what is considered Thaksin's proxy political party, said the former premier will phone into the show on that date to explain what political direction he will
next take.
Thaksin, who was was toppled in a bloodless military coup in September 2006, is looking for a new place to call home after his British visa was revoked earlier this month.
In a surprise move in Hong Kong on Friday Thaksin divorced his wife of 32 years so she could reportedly pursue their political and financial recovery in England and Thailand.
Sources also believe Thaksin, who faces a two-year jail term if he returns to Thailand, legally divorced his wife Pojaman in order to secure assets and try to recoup other frozen funds, as well as to combat tax evasion charges laid against her in Thailand, sources said.
Media reports have speculated that the divorce may have been necessary to improve the family's efforts to reclaim 76 billion baht (2.2 billion dollars) in frozen assets in Thai banks.
There have also been rumours that Thaksin has been offered a deal: his money back in exchange for per
Thaksin used his private fortune to enter politics, setting up the ThaiRak Thai Party, which won the 2001 election on a platform of populist policies and kept him in power until he was toppled in 2006.
Thailand's Supreme Court for Political Office Holders found Thaksin guilty of abuse of power for allowing his wife to bid on a prime plot of Bangkok land at a government auction in 2003 when he was prime minister.
Although the court found Thaksin guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail, Pojaman was cleared of corruption charges in the case because she was not a public office holder.
However, in August, Thailand's Criminal Court found Pojaman guilty of tax evasion and sentenced her to three years in prison.
Thaksin and Pojaman fled to London on August 11 after receiving court permission to travel to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
However, the Shinawatras' future was thrown into flux earlier this month when Britain revoked the couple's tourist visas in response to the court verdicts against them.
Sak Kosaengruang, a member of a corruption-investigation panel appointed by the military, told the Nation online Sunday the divorce was designed to enable Pojaman to enter the UK where the couple have property and where their three children currently reside.
