Split of Thailand's former first couple a convenience, friends say

Bangkok - Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra divorced his wife of 32 years on Friday so she could pursue their political and financial recovery in England and Thailand, associates said Sunday. The formidable power couple shocked even friends by sealing their separation at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong. Thaksin, who faces a two-year jail term if he returns to Thailand, legally divorced his wife Pojaman in order to secure assets and try to recoup other frozen funds, as well as to combat tax evasion charges laid against her in Thailand, sources said. 'It was necessary because many governments seem to be distancing themselves from Thaksin. One (of the two) needs to be able to move around freely,' one Thaksin supporter said. Komsan Phokong, an academic and former member of a military-appointed constitution drafting committee, dismissed rumours that Pojaman was upset by Thaksin's continued political role, saying she was likely trying to preserve assets held in her name. Media reports speculated that the divorce may have been necessary to improve the family's efforts to reclaim 76 billion baht (2.2 billion dollars) 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 from government telecommunications' concessions. He used his private fortune to enter politics, setting up the Thai Rak Thai Party, which won the 2001 election on a platform of populist policies and kept him in power until he was toppled in a bloodless military coup in September 2006. The reported separation came almost one 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. Although the court found Thaksin guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail, Pojaman was cleared of corruption charges in the case because she was not a public office holder. However, in August, Thailand's Criminal Court had 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. But the Shinawatras' future was thrown into flux earlier this month when Britain revoked the couple's tourist visas in response to the court verdicts against them. Sak Kosaengruang, a member of a corruption-investigation panel appointed by the military, told the Nation online Sunday the divorce was designed to enable Pojaman to enter the UK where the couple have property and where they have often met associates.