Yingluck UK visa report baffles ministry
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no information about fugitive former premier Yingluck Shinawatra’s visa approval for the United Kingdom, spokesperson Busadee Santipitaks said yesterday.
“[The MFA] only learned from the news report. The ministry itself has no information about this,” she said.
Her comment came after BBC Thai reported that Yingluck had received a 10-year visa for entry into the UK and will be allowed to stay for up to six months each time.
BBC Thai, whose editor is based in London, attributed the information to “a source close to Yingluck”, whose name was withheld.
The media said Yingluck currently uses a passport issued by a European country.
Yingluck fled the country in August 2017 ahead of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions’ ruling against her in a negligence of duty case relating to her government’s rice-pledging scheme which incurred hundreds of billions of baht in losses. She was later sentenced in absentia to five years behind bars.
On the MFA’s attempt to secure extradition, Ms Busadee said: “The collaboration of agencies involved is ongoing.”