Thailand gives UAE details on Thaksin

2009/11/16

Thailand said Monday it had passed information to the United Arab Emirates proving that Thaksin Shinawatra is living in Dubai, as Bangkok pushes to bring home the fugitive former premier.

A Thai foreign ministry official met the Emirati envoy to Bangkok to discuss Thaksin, who was toppled in a bloodless 2006 coup and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for corruption.

The move came days after Cambodia turned down a request from Thailand for the extradition of Thaksin, who had visited the neighbouring country to take up a new role as an economic adviser. Thaksin has said he spends much of his time in Dubai. Thailand has previously sought the UAE’s assistance but the two countries have not signed an extradition treaty.

Panich Vikitsreth, vice minister at the Thai ministry, said he had
“briefly” met UAE ambassador Mohammed Ali Ahmed Omran Al Shamsi on Monday “to discuss information related to Thaksin”. “We submitted information showing that the former premier has been located there,” Panich told AFP.

“The ambassador responded very warmly to our information. He affirmed the UAE’s principle that it will not allow anyone to use it as a political base to attack other countries.” He said the details provided included an interview with British newspaper The Times, which had taken place in Dubai, and comments from a Thaksin aide who said the ex-premier left Cambodia for Dubai on Saturday.

Thaksin, the former owner of Manchester City Football Club, lived in Britain for almost two years after the Thai army ousted him in September 2006. He returned home in February 2008 but fled again the following August ahead of a court ruling sentencing him in absentia to two years in jail. Britain cancelled his visa in November 2008 and Thailand revoked his passport in April.

Thaksin has continued to stir up protests by the so-called “Red Shirt” movement against the current government, often phoning in or giving speeches by video link from undisclosed foreign locations. -- AFP