Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he would consider asking China to help bring former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra home, days before the fugitive ex-leader was to speak in Hong Kong.
Thaksin is scheduled to speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong on Monday, and Abhisit said he was determined to see the former prime minister serve a two-year jail sentence for abuse of power.
“We are checking on legal details whether we can ask for his extradition. If it is possible then we have to take action,” Abhisit told reporters.
“We want all Thais to be under the same law,” he said.
A Thai foreign ministry official confirmed that Thailand had signed an extradition treaty with China in 1993. Such legal processes between nations, however, are usually lengthy and complicated.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.
Abhisit also urged Thaksin to tread carefully in his address in Hong Kong — a rare public appearance for the telecoms tycoon who was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006 and now lives in exile to escape jail.
“If he makes any bad allegations against Thailand, the government will clarify [his comments],” the premier said.
Thaksin was sentenced in absentia in October to two years in prison for abuse of power linked to a 2003 land deal. He had already fled into exile by that time as corruption cases against him progressed through the courts.
He vowed earlier this month, in a message reported by Thai media, to clear his name and said he was ready to lead the country again.
Twice-elected Thaksin, who made a fortune in telecommunications, remains enormously influential.
His allies won the first post-coup elections in December 2007, sparking massive street demonstrations by Thaksin’s foes.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS