Foreign Ministry responds to Ombudsman over passport for Thaksin
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Doubts have emerged over whether the passport given to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be revoked.
The passport allocated to the ex-PM has been the source of huge controversy, because of his status as a fugitive from the Thai justice system.
It was revealed yesterday that the Foreign Ministry sent a written explanation to the Ombudsman’s Office, reportedly countering a recommendation by the latter to revoke the travel document.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Manasvi Srisodapol said the note was sent to the Ombudsman’s Office, but he declined to reveal details in the response. Yesterday was the end of a 30-day extension sought by the ministry for it to respond to the Ombudsman’s call for the passport controversially issued to Thaksin to be revoked.
Thaksin’s passport was initially revoked when he fled Thailand in late 2008 to escape a two-year jail sentence after being convicted of malfeasance over the purchase of a prime block of government land by him and his former wife. The Foreign Ministry, under the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai government, reissued it, which prompted an outcry by Thaksin’s opponents.
