Ousted Thai PM is flying to London

Flying in: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
13 April 2012

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a bloodless military coup on Tuesday, will fly to London from New York today according to a government spokeswoman.

"He will be arriving in London later today," the spokeswoman said. "He is a frequent visitor here, he has property in the UK and this is a private visit."

A spokesman for Tony Blair said there had been no requests from Thaksin or his entourage for any meetings with British government ministers or officials.

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The spokesman was not aware how long Thaksin was expected to stay in Britain, but noted that he had relatives here.

Thai army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said that military coup leaders would choose a new prime minister within two weeks and step back from power.

Speaking less than 24 hours after he led a bloodless coup to oust Thaksin, Sonthi also said it would take a year to produce a new constitution leading to a fresh general election.

One of Thaksin's daughters is studying at a university in London, but a spokeswoman for the university could not comment on whether or not she was there on Wednesday.

A spokesman at London's Gatwick airport confirmed that a Thai Airways flight from New York's John F. Kennedy airport was due to land at Gatwick at around 1700 local time (1600 GMT), but declined to give any details of passengers.

Blair's spokesman said the British government was concerned about developments in Thailand. "Our general approach would be that we want to see a return to democracy as quickly as possible," he said. "There are elections scheduled for October and November and we are actively trying to find out whether those electons wil go ahead or not."

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