Ex-Thai PM facing extradition

Thai authorities are preparing to call for deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to be extradited from the UK.

The Thai attorney general was preparing today to request an arrest warrant on Shinawatra and his wife, in order that they face trial on corruption charges.

There was no indication that Man City football club owner Thaksin and his wife Pojamarn, living in self-imposed exile in England, would abide by an order to appear before the Supreme Court in Bangkok.

“If the defendants fail to show up the attorney general will seek the court’s permission to issue the arrest warrant and seek cooperation from England to send them back to face trial,” Patchara Yuthithamdamrong, an official from the attorney general’s office, told reporters.

It will then be up to the court to decide whether to issue the warrant.