BANGKOK - Thailand's foreign minister said Wednesday his ministry would revoke former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife's diplomatic passports after they fled to exile in Britain.

"The Foreign Ministry will cancel Thaksin and his wife's diplomatic passports as soon as possible," Tej Bunnag told reporters after returning from neighbouring Laos.

"As soon as the consular affairs and legal and treaties departments obtain the court documents, they will proceed on the matter," he added.

Thaksin missed a required court appearance in a corruption case in Bangkok on Monday and flew to London, saying political interference in Thailand would rob him of a fair trial.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest, but Tej said Thaksin's extradition from Britain was not guaranteed.

"Extradition is a very sensitive international legal issue, so it will require close consultation. Britain considers extradition a serious matter," he said.

"The extradition procedure is difficult, complicated and time consuming and we cannot predict the timetable," he said.

Thaksin, who owns the English Premier League club Manchester City, had spent 18 months in exile after the military toppled him in a 2006 coup.

He spent much of that time in his English home, and last year the attorney general's office began working on an extradition request, which was dropped after Thaksin voluntarily returned to Thailand in February.

Thai authorities have frozen 76 billion baht (2.2 billion US dollars) worth of Thaksin's assets as part of the corruption cases against him. Officials have not said what will happen to the money now that Thaksin has fled the country.

- AFP/ir