Britain revokes ousted Thai leader’s visa

Thailand: Britain has revoked former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s entry visa, preventing him from returning to London where he had been living in exile.

British authorities “have confirmed the decision to revoke the visas” of Thaksin and his wife Pojaman, Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Thanee Thongpakdi said Saturday.

Thai media said Thaksin was traveling in China, but it is unclear whether his wife was with him.

Thaksin, who fled Thailand in August to escape several charges including corruption, was sentenced in absentia by a Thai court in October to two years in prison. Prosecutors said they would seek his extradition from Britain.

Citing an unidentified airline source, the Bangkok Post and other Thai newspapers said the British embassy in Bangkok sent an e-mail to international airlines on Friday asking them not to allow Thaksin and his wife to board flights to the United Kingdom.

A Bangkok-based executive with a European airline confirmed that it had received the e-mail from the British Embassy. He refused to have his name or airline identified, saying “in the current political climate, it would be unwise.” A spokesman for Thaksin in Bangkok said British authorities had not contacted the former prime minister concerning his visa.

BANGKOK, Sunday, AP