Thaksin will have uphill task to seek political asylum in UK

The process of seeking political asylum is rather complicated and timeconsuming, according to Surapong Jayanama, a former Thai ambassador.

In his opinion, Thaksin would have to convince the UK authori¬ties that his life, as well as the lives of his immediate family members, were really under seri¬ous threat to qualify for an appli¬cation for exile.

Yet, it had been evident since February this year when the for¬mer premier returned to Thailand that he and his family were living normally in the country. As a result, Thaksin and his lawyers could find it very challenging to convince the UK authorities on this point.

On the other hand, the Thai court last month sentenced his wife Pojaman and her brother, as well as two others, to threeyear jail terms for Bt546million tax evasion.

As in most Western countries, tax evasion is a serious violation in the UK.

Given that Thaksin failed to show up before the court yester¬day morning, the court issued an arrest warrant against him. The former premier is now regarded as a fugitive whose travel documents ought to be withdrawn by the Thai authorities.

Surapong said most of the pend¬ing cases against the former pre¬mier are criminal offences so there should be no grounds for political asylum.

These pending cases involve alleged corruption and abuse of power resulting from conflicts between public and private inter¬ests, including the Rachadaphisek land purchase and the Exim Bank loan.

In the land case, Thaksin was alleged to have abused his authority while in office by arrang¬ing for his wife to buy a valuable, stateland plot at a significant dis¬count.

In the Exim Bank loan case, Thaksin was alleged to have ordered the stateowned Exim Bank to increase the amount of a loan to Burma by Bt1 billion so the country could buy equipment and services from a company owned by his family.

Pin refused to return to Thailand to face charges after claiming that he did not trust the Thai justice system. He has remained a fugitive for the past decade.

While Thailand and the UK have an extradition treaty, the process of seeking the extradition of Pin to Thailand has been unsuccessful. One reason is that the ThaiUK pact dates back over a century.