Ex-Thai PM hasn't obtained British passport: Minister

Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has not obtained a British passport, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Monday.

His remarks came after news reports said that Yingluck had been given the passport after she had reportedly sought political asylum in Britain, reports Xinhua news agency.

Don said such possibilities were not officially reported by any authorities, Thai or British.

Thai media earlier reported that Yingluck was seeking political asylum in Britain after she unexpectedly left Thailand and secretly travelled to the United Arab Emirates in August.

Yingluck reportedly fled the country via Cambodia.

In absentia, the Supreme Court delivered a final verdict and sentenced her to a five-year jail term on duty negligence and misconduct charges pertaining to a rice subsidy programme which was implemented by her Puea Thai Party-led government and reportedly incurred an estimated 500 billion baht ($14 billion) in state losses several years ago.

Yingluck was said to have visited her brother, former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in Dubai where he has been in self-exile for nearly a decade.

Thaksin and Yingluck were deposed by military coups in 2006 and 2014 respectively.

--IANS

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