Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Thaksin and his wife divorce after 32 years

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s controversial former prime minister, has divorced his wife Potjaman after 32 years of marriage.

Telecommunications billionaire Mr Thaksin and his wife are in effect stateless. They both face jail sentences if they return to Thailand – he over a conviction on charges of breaching conflict-of-interest laws and she for a tax evasion conviction. Mr Thaksin says the charges and convictions are politically motivated.

Britain, where the couple have spent most of their time since he lost his office in a military coup in 2006, recently revoked both their visas, citing their criminal convictions as the reason. Mr Thaksin’s location is not clear, although the divorce was finalised in the Thai consulate in Hong Kong last week.

The Nation, one of Thailand’s leading English language newspapers, suggested that the divorce was motivated by financial considerations because many of the couple’s assets are believed to be in Mrs Potjaman’s name. However, a spokesman for Mr Thaksin denied this.

read the rest published by FT here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f92da4b4-b3fb-11dd-8e35-0000779fd18c.html