Thaksin divorces wife Pojaman

Media is a buzz with the news that Thailand’s fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has divorced his wife of 32 years, Pojaman. The separation was reportedly sealed at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong.

It was unclear why the couple divorced although media reports speculated that it might be a legal move designed to improve the family’s efforts to reclaim 76 billion baht ($A3.3 billion) in frozen assets in Thai banks. Much of the Shinawatra assets are in Pojaman’s name. Thaksin, once ranked among Thailand’s richest men, made his fortune off government telecommunications concessions.

This news of separation comes almost a month after Thailand’s Supreme Court for Political Office Holders found Thaksin guilty of abuse of power for allowing his wife to bid on a prime plot of Bangkok land at a government auction in 2003 when he was prime minister.

In August, Thailand’s Criminal Court found Pojaman guilty of tax evasion and sentenced her to three years in prison. Thaksin and Pojaman fled to London on August 11 after receiving court permission to travel to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Their three children joined them in the British capital, where the family owns property.

However, things took another turn when Britain revoked Thaksin’s and Pojaman’s tourist visas in response to the verdicts against them.