Thaksin Shinawatra

·         On August 11, 2008 in Thailand, Supreme Court issued arrest warrants for former PM Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife after they fled to England rather than face court cases in Thailand.

·         Thaksin will presumably seek political asylum in England where he owns the Manchester City football club and several properties.

·         In 2007 he purchased the Manchester City football club.

Mission IAS’2009

·         Thaksin and his wife Pojaman flew to London from Beijing where they had attended the opening ceremony of the Olympics .

·         The Supreme Court July 29 granted Thaksin and Pojaman permission to travel to Beijing on the stipulation that they returned to Thailand to stand trial later this week in the Ratchadaphist land case, in which the couple stand accused of abusing power in a land purchase deal in 2003 when Thaksin was still prime minister.

·         A former policeman who became a billionaire telecommunications' tycoon, Thaksin came to power on a populist platform in 2001.

·         Thaksin was PM for two terms from 2001 until Sept 19, 2006, when he was toppled by a military coup on charges of corruption, dividing the nation and undermining democracy and the monarchy.