SHELTERING under road bridges, hundreds of supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister who was ousted in a coup in 2014, had gathered in Bangkok on August 25th. Threats of arrest and thousands of police had failed to keep them from the Supreme Court as they waited patiently on pavements and plastic chairs. They had been expecting the verdict to be announced in a case against Ms Yingluck for incompetence in a rice-subsidy scheme which cost the government around $16bn. They had also hoped to catch a glimpse of their champion.
Ms Yingluck had other ideas. Her lawyer told the court’s head judge that she was too unwell to appear. “The court does not believe she is sick,” the judge declared and sought an arrest warrant. Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general who is Thailand’s prime minister, admitted he did not know whether she was still in Thailand. Reuters, a news agency, quoted sources close to the Shinawatra family as saying that Ms Yingluck had fled;...Continue reading
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