Don admits Yingluck is in UK
Fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been in London since September, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Tuesday, citing his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, as the source of the information.
He said his ministry would cooperate with Johnson’s now that Yingluck’s whereabouts are known.
It was the first admission from the ministry that Yingluck had fled to Britain, where her brother Thaksin runs a business and owns a residence.
In October, police cited Dubai authorities in saying Yingluck had left the United Arab Emirates on September 11 and moved to Britain.
There were no further significant updates until photos of Yingluck in London and Oxford appeared in the media last week.
Don declined to say whether Thailand would issue an objection to the British government if Yingluck applied for asylum there.
“It is not the Foreign Ministry’s duty to answer that question,” he said
He pointed that all of Yingluck’s Thai travel documents had been revoked, so she must have entered Britain with a passport issued by another country.
He added that Yingluck’s presence in Britain should not affect Thailand-UK relations.