Thailand's ex-prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and wife jump bail

JAKARTA, Indonesia--Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife jumped bail today and returned to exile in Britain to escape prosecution on corruption charges.

In a statement read on Thai television, Thaksin said from London that unnamed political opponents were out to get him, and said he was the victim of "judicial interference."

"What happened to me and my family and my close relations resulted from efforts to get rid of me from politics," Thaksin said statement, which reports from Thailand said was handwritten.

"These are my political enemies. They don't care about the rule of law, facts or internationally recognized due process."

A Thai court allowed Thaksin and his wife to attend the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing, but they failed to return as scheduled Sunday night and missed a court appearance this morning.

A court statement said it would confiscate bail totaling more than $385,000 that was posted by the billionaire and his wife, Pojamarn. The court also issued warrants for their arrest.

Thaksin's wife returned from self-exile in London in January. She was recently convicted of tax fraud, sentenced to three years in jail and was released on bail pending an appeal. Thaksin, who had spent 17 miles in exile, followed her back to Thailand in February to face charges that he helped his wife get a sweetheart deal on prime land in Bangkok while he was in power.

In separate cases, he faces corruption charges stemming from alleged irregularities in a state-run lottery created to fund education, and in a $120-million loan to neighboring Myanmar, also know as Burma, by Thailand's Export-Import Bank.

For the moment, Thaksin's departure is expected to defuse political tensions that had mounted as the current government, widely seen as Thaksin's proxy, faced down opposition protesters.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, a Thaksin ally and popular television chef elected in December after the ruling junta kept a promise to restore democracy, is accused of opponents of mismanaging the economy and a Muslim insurgency in the south.

Popular among Thailand's rural poor, Thaksin won landslide election victories in 2001 and 2005. The military overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 2006. It banned Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party and filed corruption charges against him.

But Thaksin claimed his life was at risk in Thailand, and insisted he would remain in exile in Britain "where democracy is more important."

"I receive information and hints about attempts to assassinate me all the time," he said in his statement.

Thaksin apologized to the court and fellow Thais, and left open the possibility that he might again try to return to his homeland.

"If I am fortunate enough, I will return and die on Thai soil, just like other Thais," he said.

paul.watson@latimes.com