It has been a week since former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's sudden "disappearance," and the Thai government is no closer to figuring out the mystery pertaining to her whereabouts.
The government, especially the police and armed forces, are still grappling to find answers behind her slip out of the country.
"We still have no idea where Yingluck is," Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also Defence Minister and minister responsible for the police, told the local media recently as investigations to locate Yingluck gathers pace.
Yingluck, who was Thailand’s first female prime minister, was supposed to appear in court last Friday to hear a verdict over an accusation of negligence in a rice pledging scheme, which could have sent her to jail for up to 10 years, but failed to show up.
Her failure to appear in court sparked frenzied speculation by the media, alleging she had fled the country, following in her brother Thaksin's footsteps of leaving the country approximately nine years ago in 2008, for a life in exile.
Ever since her no-show in court seven days ago, the media in Thailand has been working overtime, coming up with a list of speculations and theories on her whereabouts.
The most popular speculation is that she is currently in Dubai, UAE with her older brother, who has a house in the Middle Eastern city.
Yet, another speculation quoting highly informed sources within her political party, Pheu Thai, claimed she plans to seek asylum in the UK.
Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, who expressed surprise over the turn of events over her disappearance, has instructed security forces to commence investigations which could yield answers over how she managed to flee the country.
“I thought she would have been brave enough (to show up in court),” he said as several groups and political activists in Thailand also stepped up their criticism of the government over its failure to prevent Yingluck from escaping.
The groups and activists are demanding that "heads roll" if her escape from the country was the result of negligence on the part of high-ranking security officers.
Thai police deputy chief Gen Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul, who has been entrusted with the investigation on Yingluck’s escape, said the police had sought the cooperation of six countries in the ongoing investigation, including Cambodia, Singapore and the UAE.
Phnom Penh has stated that Yingluck never crossed its border.
The Thai police have also requested assistance from Interpol in tracking down the former prime minister.
Meanwhile, Army chief Gen Chalermchai Sittisart told the media that Yingluck’s escape plan was well-hatched in advance, where "she abandoned all her phones and changed her cars so it was hard to trace her, using the same method we did before."
- Bernama
