Former Thai PM Yingluck seeks asylum in UK

Thailand's former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who has been sentenced to five years in prison, has reportedly sought political asylum in the United Kingdom, CNN reported.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Thursday that Yingluck was hiding in Dubai, where her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, another former Thai prime minister, lives in exile.

But a source in her Pheu Thai Party revealed that Yingluck left Dubai for London two weeks ago, CNN reported.

The UK's Home Office, which deals with asylum applications, told CNN it does not comment on individual cases.

Thailand's Supreme Court convicted Yingluck on Wednesday of dereliction of duty over a controversial rice subsidy programme and sentenced her to five years in prison. The scheme cost the country billions of dollars.

Having already fled the country, Yingluck was not present for the verdict and sentencing.

Yingluck, whose elected government was overthrown in 2014 by the army generals in a military coup, had been barred from leaving Thailand without court approval since 2015, when her trial started.

Yingluck had denied allegations relating to a mishandled and costly rice subsidy scheme.

Her bail of 30 million baht ($900,000), posted when the trial began more than two years ago, has been confiscated.

Yingluck became Thailand's first female prime minister in 2011 but after the 2014 coup, she was impeached by Thailand's military-appointed National Legislative Assembly. The ruling barred her from political office for five years.