BANGKOK: Thailand's military government has issued an order to seize US$16 million ($30 million) in assets from ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra over a failed rice subsidy scheme for farmers.
A Thai court has also issued an arrest warrant for Ms Yingluck's exiled brother Thaksin Shinawatra, after he failed to turn up for a defamation case filed against him by the army.
The moves intensify pressure on the powerful Shinawatra family whose parties have won every election since 2001 on a wave of policies that were popular with Thailand's rural masses.
Since toppling Ms Yingluck's democratically-elected government in a coup last year, the military has dismantled almost all of her family's network in state institutions and side-lined its political allies.
The military government has announced it will issue an administrative order to seize Ms Yingluck's assets over a rice subsidy scheme that helped her sweep into power in 2011.
But Ms Yingluck has condemned the move on her Facebook page, saying the government is by-passing Thailand's courts where she is facing criminal charges.
"You are using your power as if you were a judge while the criminal case trial is still under the legal process in court," Ms Yingluck said in a letter to coup leader and now prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Thailand lost billions of dollars after an attempt by Ms Yingluck's government in 2011 to manipulate the world's rice market at a time the country was the largest exporter of rice.
The plan was to buy local rice harvests for as much as 50 per cent above market rates to drive up global prices.
But other countries, seeing it as a clumsy attempt at price manipulation, responded by stepping up their production.
Global prices stayed low and the Thai government amassed stockpiles rather than selling at a steep loss, effectively pricing itself out of the market.
Thailand's anti-corruption commission has accused Ms Yingluck of dereliction of duty for failing to stop the scheme she was supposed to be overseeing. But she has not been found guilty in any court proceedings.
The government has set up two panels to determine if Ms Yingluck and 21 other people are financially liable for the rice scheme's losses which amounted to more than US$12 billion.
Deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam defended the government's move in comments to journalists, saying it was in compliance with the 1986 Act on Liability for Wrongful Acts of Officials. He said Ms Yingluck will have the right of appeal to the Administrative Court.
The former prime minister has declared to anti-corruption authorities she has the equivalent of US$16 million in assets.
The arrest warrant issued for Thaksin over the defamation case is another setback for the telecommunications billionaire who lives abroad to avoid a two year jail sentence handed down in 2008 for graft.
The latest case relates to comments Thaksin made in May accusing the military of being part of a conspiracy to overthrow Ms Yingluck, days before she was overthrown.
A Thai court has also issued an arrest warrant for Ms Yingluck's exiled brother Thaksin Shinawatra, after he failed to turn up for a defamation case filed against him by the army.
The moves intensify pressure on the powerful Shinawatra family whose parties have won every election since 2001 on a wave of policies that were popular with Thailand's rural masses.
Since toppling Ms Yingluck's democratically-elected government in a coup last year, the military has dismantled almost all of her family's network in state institutions and side-lined its political allies.
The military government has announced it will issue an administrative order to seize Ms Yingluck's assets over a rice subsidy scheme that helped her sweep into power in 2011.
But Ms Yingluck has condemned the move on her Facebook page, saying the government is by-passing Thailand's courts where she is facing criminal charges.
"You are using your power as if you were a judge while the criminal case trial is still under the legal process in court," Ms Yingluck said in a letter to coup leader and now prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Thailand lost billions of dollars after an attempt by Ms Yingluck's government in 2011 to manipulate the world's rice market at a time the country was the largest exporter of rice.
The plan was to buy local rice harvests for as much as 50 per cent above market rates to drive up global prices.
But other countries, seeing it as a clumsy attempt at price manipulation, responded by stepping up their production.
Global prices stayed low and the Thai government amassed stockpiles rather than selling at a steep loss, effectively pricing itself out of the market.
Thailand's anti-corruption commission has accused Ms Yingluck of dereliction of duty for failing to stop the scheme she was supposed to be overseeing. But she has not been found guilty in any court proceedings.
The government has set up two panels to determine if Ms Yingluck and 21 other people are financially liable for the rice scheme's losses which amounted to more than US$12 billion.
Deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam defended the government's move in comments to journalists, saying it was in compliance with the 1986 Act on Liability for Wrongful Acts of Officials. He said Ms Yingluck will have the right of appeal to the Administrative Court.
The former prime minister has declared to anti-corruption authorities she has the equivalent of US$16 million in assets.
The arrest warrant issued for Thaksin over the defamation case is another setback for the telecommunications billionaire who lives abroad to avoid a two year jail sentence handed down in 2008 for graft.
The latest case relates to comments Thaksin made in May accusing the military of being part of a conspiracy to overthrow Ms Yingluck, days before she was overthrown.
Oh, I'm sure this will help the reconciliation process big time.
Posted by Herbert on October 13, 2015 13:34