The United Kingdom’s government has confirmed that former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been staying in London.
Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai admitted that he had received an earlier confirmation from the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the former Thai PM was in London, reported NNT.
However, he said that, so far, any request for Yingluck to be granted political asylum in the UK has not been officially reported though rumors are swirling that she will seek asylum to legally stay in England. She is currently using a foreign country’s passport to travel overseas since her Thailand passport has been revoked due to her running from her charged crimes of negligence — and subsequent five year sentence in absentia — five months ago.
The minister added that the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have the responsibility to object to requested asylum for Yingluck and that Thai-UK relations will be taken into consideration before objecting to any asylum.
Today, local media have been publishing opinion pieces conjecturing that the two photos that hit media this week — one of a blurry possible Yingluck in a London shopping mall and the other of the former PM posing on a UK street with a “fan” — were leaked to the public on purpose to get a feel of what opinion the public has of the ousted leader.
Other opinion pieces offered that she is not really a wanted woman at all, since she is out in the public eye. A piece in The Nation today opined that that Thai leaders don’t want to bring her to justice and place her in a Thai jail, since such action could cause major revolt from her many supporters.
