Thaksin Flees to London — Again

Six months after returning from exile in triumph, Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fled to London on Aug. 11, the same day that the former Thai leader and his wife were due to face corruption charges in Thailand's courts.

Thaksin, who flew to Britain after attending the Olympics in Beijing, said in a televised statement that since returning in February he and his family had had their lives threatened and been treated unfairly by Thailand's judicial system. "My family and I have continuously been treated unjustly," Thaksin said. He accused his enemies of intervening in the justice system to "get rid of me and my family," and said he would seek political asylum, though he did not say in which country. In his three-page statement, read on a Thai government-owned television station, Thaksin said his exile would be "indefinite."

Thailand's Supreme Court immediately issued arrest warrants for Thaksin and wife Pojaman, who is also a defendant in one of the corruption cases, after they failed to appear in court on Aug. 11. The court confiscated $239,000 in bail previously posted by the couple, and an additional estimated $2 billion of the couple's assets have been frozen by the courts as their cases are deliberated.

The impact of Thaksin's flight on the country's ongoing political tensions isn’t yet clear, but the Stock Exchange of Thailand's main index shot up 1.77 percent after his statement aired. "In the short term, this might contribute to stability," says Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He says Thaksin's exile could give Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej — who is closely allied with the former PM and once declared himself Thaksin's "nominee" — more flexibility to negotiate with the forces lining up against his government in recent months, including street protesters, the opposition Democrat Party and elements within the military. Street protest leader Chamlong Srimuang said, however, that demonstrations will continue until Samak's government falls — despite Thaksin's flight.

Thaksin was ousted as Prime Minister in a bloodless military coup d'etat in September 2006 by a clique of generals who claimed he was corrupt, dividing the country and had disrespected Thailand's revered monarchy. He spent the next 18 months in self-imposed exile in various countries, while a military-appointed committee investigated and filed charges against him in raft of corruption cases. He has consistently denied all charges against him.

Still, Thaksin remained popular with the rural poor, who make up a majority of Thailand's electorate, and in December 2007 they voted in a government led by a party widely considered to be a proxy of the ousted prime minister. In February 2008, Thaksin returned to Thailand, kissing the tarmac at Bangkok International Airport as supporters cheered him on, and vowing to prove his innocence in court.

In July, three of Thaksin's lawyers were sentenced to six months in jail for attempting to bribe officers at the Constitutional Court. Soon after, Thaksin's wife Pojaman, her secretary and her brother were convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to three years in jail. They were released on bail and are appealing the case.

Thaksin could face a frosty reception in the U.K., where he spent a good deal of his previous exile. During that time, he purchased the Manchester City football club of the English Premier League. The purchase sparked controversy over his ability to pass the League's "fit and proper" test for ownership because of his alleged abuses of power in office. League officials countered that Thaksin had never been convicted of a crime. But as Thaksin's trials proceed without him, that may change. Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, was recently quoted in The Guardian as saying: "We will not turn a blind eye to issues of a serious nature." Thaksin looks like he might be called on to play another round of defense.