Thailand's influential former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has left the country, according to two sources and Thai media reports, a day before a parliamentary vote to choose a new prime minister and a court ruling that could send him to prison.
The departure of billionaire Thaksin, who spent a total of 15 years in self-imposed exile, came at a time when the coalition government of the ruling Pheu Thai party, which he founded, is in crisis, facing a major challenge from a rival party ahead of a vote in the Lower House on Friday, Reuters reports.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will rule on the case against Thaksin, which could potentially send him to prison. He avoided that after his much-vaunted return to Thailand in 2023, when he served his entire sentence in a hospital for health reasons.
Sources who confirmed Thaksin's departure declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media. A spokesman for the Pheu Thai party declined to comment.
Thaksin's lawyer Winyat Chatmontree told Reuters he was not aware of his departure from the country, but said there was no court order preventing him from doing so.
"He always said he would appear in court on September 9," Vinjat said.
A source from the Pheu Thai party told Reuters that Thaksin had travelled to Singapore for a medical check-up and was expected to return to Thailand on Friday.
A turbulent past
Thaksin, 76, is the driving force behind the ailing ruling Pheu Thai party and the father of recently ousted Prime Minister Phatthongtarn Shinawatra, who was in power for just a year before being ousted by a court decision last week.
Paetongtarn was the sixth prime minister from or with the support of the Shinawatra family to be removed by military or judicial intervention during a turbulent two-decade power struggle between the country's warring elites.
The billionaire lived in London and Dubai for years to avoid prison for abuse of power and conflict of interest, before returning to Thailand to serve his sentence - just hours before the Pheu Thai party's prime minister took office.
Shinawatra also has a Montenegrin passport.
His sentence was reduced from eight to one year after a royal pardon, and he spent six months in the hospital's VIP ward, before being released on parole in February 2024.
The Supreme Court will decide on Tuesday whether time spent in the hospital counts as time served.
The Pheu Thai party is struggling to muster support after the loss of Paetongtarn, which sparked a power struggle aimed at unseating the party that has dominated Thai politics for the past 25 years, winning five of the last six elections.
Earlier on Thursday, Pheu Thai announced that it would nominate Chaikasem Nitisiri, an experienced lawyer with limited ministerial experience, for the prime ministership, who will face Bhumjaithai party leader Anutin Chanwirakula in parliament.
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