November 17, 2008
Bangkok - Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would not recover his frozen assets by divorcing his wife Pojaman Shinawatra, according to opposition party’s Thaworn Senneam.
Thaksin officially ended his 32-year marriage with Pojaman on November 14 at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong.
Some sources claimed the divorce was based on financial or legal reasons.
However, Democrat Party’s legal expert Thaworn said the couple would not gain from the split.
"The divorce cannot attribute the money to any one side, it is still jointly owned and they would both need to prove how the money was earned," Thaworn told AFP.
"I think it is a purely personal decision," he added.
Thepthai Senpong, deputy secretary-general of Democrat Party, believed that was a matter of image building for the ex-premier. Thaksin is ready to fight with those who do not take his side.
Thaksin and Pojaman have been living in exile since August to escape jail sentences in Thailand.
Thaksin’s 2.2 billion dollars of assets have been frozen by the courts. Most of his assets came from the sale of Shin Corp.
He is awaiting a hearing on whether his assets can be confiscated as alleged by the Assets Examination Committee (AEC).
Pojaman was sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion in the Shin Corp sale case while Thaksin got two-year imprisonment for using his power to benefit Pojaman’s Ratchadapisek land purchase.
