UK Visa revocation for deposed Thai PM

November 10 2008 by Liam Clifford

The ex-PM of Thailand and Honorary President of Manchester City football club, Thaksin Shinawatra, has abruptly had his UK visa revoked by the Home Office.

Thaksin was ousted from power by a military coup in early 2006 and fled to Britain with an alleged 23 suitcases stuffed with cash. He promptly bought a mansion in Weybridge, Surrey, a £3m penthouse in Kensington and the Manchester City football team, which was subsequently sold this year at a £50m profit.

He returned to Thailand at the end of February this year after the election victory of the People's Power Party. In August, his wife Potjaman was sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion offences. The couple skipped bail and fled to the UK, saying [the UK is] 'a country that holds on to the principle of democracy above all'.

They then visited China for the Olympics, where he was believed to be building an $8.5 million mansion as a backstop measure if permanent UK residency did not eventuate.

On October 21st, events took a turn for the worse as Thailand's Supreme Court found Thaksin guilty of corruption and conflict of interest in relation to his wife's auction win of a piece of land being sold by a government agency. Thaksin was sentenced to two years jail in absentia.

Thaksin's UK visa was subsequently revoked by the Home Office under rules forbidding entry to anyone convicted of offences which can carry a jail sentence under British law.

According to Thai press reports, long-haul airlines have been emailed by a senior UK Border Agency official requesting that they refuse to allow Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman onto any UK-bound flight.

Meanwhile, Bangkok media have reported that Thaksin and his wife were traveling from China to the Philippines. But any hopes that he may harboring for refuge in the Philippines appear to be scotched by statements made over the weekend by Foreign Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin, who said that the Philippines government would 'politely' refuse any request for political asylum from the fugitive leader. He said that this would jeopardize the country's friendly relations with Thailand.

See the latest Immigration News