The wife of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was arrested after she returned to Thailand yesterday to face charges of corruption and concealing millions of dollars in stock market shares that could put her behind bars for 28 years, authorities said.
Her sudden return added tension to Thailand's unsettled political situation, in which Thaksin's followers are scurrying to form a coalition government following their victory in general elections last month.
Reacting to the return of his wife, Pojamarn Shinawatra, the exiled Thaksin said he would follow her to Thailand at an appropriate time to also fight the same charges against him.
PHOTO: EPA
"I insist that my wife and I are ready to fight all charges to prove our innocence," Thaksin said in a statement issued by his lawyers.
Thaksin, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power, saw his wife off earlier yesterday in Hong Kong.
Police presented Pojamarn with the first arrest warrant at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport after her arrival and she was later handed a second.
Pojamarn, wearing dark sunglasses and a black suit, was taken to the Supreme Court, where she smiled as she passed a crowd of journalists, escorted by her legal team and police.
The court released her on 5 million baht (US$168,000) bail pending a first hearing on Jan. 23, banning her from leaving the country and doing "anything to obstruct the judicial process or the bail will be revoked."
The case involves Pojamarn's 2003 purchase of some prime Bangkok real estate from the Financial Institutions Development Fund -- a state rescue fund directed by the central bank.
An anti-corruption law bars prime ministers or their spouses from doing business with government agencies.
The Supreme Court issued warrants in August for Thaksin and his wife on charges of conflict of interest and malfeasance. Each charges carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Later in the day, Pojamarn was taken to the Department of Special Investigations and formally read charges in connection with a separate corruption case that alleges she and Thaksin concealed millions of dollars worth of shares in SC Asset, a real estate holding company owned by their family.
Pojamarn could face eight years in prison if convicted.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS