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Thaksin's ex-wife Pojaman flies back to Thailand: airline
AFP - 43 minutes ago
BANGKOK (AFP) - - The ex-wife of Thailand's ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the kingdom Friday night, airline staff said, after fleeing to Britain in August to avoid a three-year jail sentence for tax evasion.
Thai Airways International staff confirmed Pojaman had arrived at 10.20pm (1520GMT) on its flight from Hong Kong, travelling under her maiden name.
"She was on flight TG607. She travelled under her former last name "Damapong"," the official told AFP.
Immigration Police Commissioner Lt Gen Chatchawal Suksomjit earlier confirmed he expected her arrival.
Former members of the People Power Party, the political party affiliated with Thaksin that ruled in coalition until its forced disbandment on Tuesday, were at Suvarnabhumi airport to greet Pojaman along with her son Pantongtae and daughter Pinthongta as they left through a private exit.
"They are on their way home," former Songkram Kitlertpairoj told AFP.
Pojaman Shinawatra, her brother and secretary were convicted in July of tax evasion and released on bail pending appeal.
Last month Pojaman, 51, and Thaksin, 59, divorced after 32 years of marriage, with family friends claiming they remained close and it was a "divorce on paper" for practical or economic reasons.
The couple had been living in exile since August to avoid jail sentences in their homeland and last month had their British visas cancelled, leaving them searching for a new refuge.
Thaksin, who was in power from 2001 until he was toppled in a 2006 coup, has since told an Arabian business magazine he plans to return to Thai politics.
The news of Pojaman's return comes as Thaksin's allies were forced to dissolve their ruling People Power Party by a constitutional court decision Tuesday that also ousted premier Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law.
The ruling came after months of street protests by the Thaksin and government-hating People's Alliance for Democracy that culminated in an eight-day blockade of Bangkok's international Suvarnabhumi airport on November 25, forcing its closure until Wednesday.
In October former policeman Thaksin was sentenced to two years in prison in absentia for corruption.
Thaksin is widely loathed by the old power elite in the Thai palace, military and bureaucracy but still loved by millions, particularly among Thailand's rural poor.
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