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Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has flown out of Bangkok just days before a Supreme Court ruling that could see him imprisoned, deepening turmoil for his family’s political movement as parliament prepares to choose a new leader.
Police confirmed the 76-year-old billionaire boarded a private jet from Don Mueang airport on Thursday evening, around 7pm local time, saying no court orders were preventing him from leaving.
Flight-tracking data showed his plane, numbered T7GTS, initially headed towards Singapore but then travelled over Malaysia and made a number of loops on the Andaman Sea before diverting west.
Mr Shinawatra later posted online that he was travelling to Dubai for “a health check-up” but was held up at Thai immigration for several hours.
He said the pilot changed course for Dubai after being informed it was too late to land at Singapore’s Seletar Airport, which closes at 10pm local time.
“In Dubai, I have my regular orthopedic doctor and pulmonologist, whom I have been seeing for a long time. It also gave me the opportunity to visit friends I haven’t seen in over two years,” he said in an X post in Thai.
He added that he intends to return to Thailand “no later than 8 September to attend court in person on 9 September”.
Mr Shinawatra built one of Thailand’s most powerful political dynasties before being ousted in a 2006 coup. He spent 15 years in self-imposed exile before returning home in 2023 to serve a reduced corruption sentence after his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was elected prime minister.
He was freed on parole in early 2024 after just months in hospital, fuelling criticism that he had received special treatment. The court will rule next week on whether his hospital stay should count as time served.
His departure comes at a fraught moment for the Pheu Thai party he founded. Last week, his daughter was dismissed as prime minister after judges ruled she had breached ethics during a leaked call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen.
It was the sixth time a Shinawatra-backed premier has been forced from office in two decades of political upheaval, and the third time a member of the Shinawatra family specifically had been ousted.
On Friday, parliament is expected to vote on Ms Shinawatra’s replacement. Pheu Thai has nominated former justice minister Chaikasem Nitisiri, but faces a major challenge from the Bhumjaithai Party’s leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, who has secured support from the main opposition. Analysts expect Mr Charnvirakul to emerge victorious, putting an end to Pheu Thai’s spell in power.
