Thailand's former PM Yingluck fled to Dubai - senior party members

26 August 2017 - 09:26 By Reuters
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Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Image: REUTERS/Edgar Su

Thailand's former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has fled to Dubai, senior members of her party said on Saturday, a day after she failed to show up for a negligence ruling in which she faced up to 10 years in prison.

Sources in her Puea Thai Party said the former prime minister left Thailand last week and flew via Singapore to Dubai where her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a 2008 jail sentence for corruption, has a home.

"We heard that she went to Cambodia and then Singapore from where she flew to Dubai. She has arrived safely and is there now," said a senior member of the Puea Thai Party who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Deputy national police chief General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said police had no record of Yingluck leaving the country and where following developments closely.

A Reuters reporter was stopped by security at the exclusive Emirates Hills community in Dubai, where Thaksin has a home.

A spokesperson for Thaksin in Dubai did not respond to attempts by Reuters to contact Thaksin.

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