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BANGKOK: Britain's decision to revoke the visas of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife provoked speculation in local press Sunday over where the self-exiled leader might set up home next.
Thailand's foreign ministry on Saturday confirmed that Britain had slapped an entry ban on Thaksin and his wife Pojaman.
It comes after Thaksin was last month sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for conflict of interest after helping his wife buy state-owned land when he was prime minister.
The reasons for the British government's decision remain unclear, but there appear to be a number of countries willing to take in the multi-millionaire, who was overthrown in a coup in September 2006.
"We don't have to be concerned about Thaksin and his family," the Thai-language Matichon newspaper quoted Pracha Prosobdee, a member of the ruling pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP), as saying.
"There are the Bahamas and several countries in Africa and around the world that will gladly welcome high-quality people like him."
The Nation newspaper quoted an unnamed source from the PPP saying Thaksin was building a 300-million-baht (US$8.5-million) mansion in China, where he and his wife might take up residence if Britain is indeed off the cards.
The English-language paper also mentioned the Bahamas, and said the pair had been offered honorary citizenship there.
The Bangkok Post's Sunday edition quoted an unnamed source as saying that the couple were currently in China. Last week, the paper reported that Bolivia was considering offering Thaksin a post as an economic advisor.
Thailand's Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat - Thaksin's brother-in-law - remained tight-lipped about his relative's plans.
"The revoking of the visas is the decision by the government of Great Britain - we cannot criticise," he told reporters, but refused to say whether he planned to meet up with Thaksin on his trip Monday to the Philippines.
Local media on Saturday said that Thaksin may head to Manila.
Thaksin has spent most of his time since the coup in self-imposed exile in Britain, where he bought and subsequently sold Manchester City football club.
He returned to Thailand in February this year, but swiftly fled again in August after Pojaman was sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion.
- AFP/yb
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