BANGKOK, Feb 9 – The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) must take longer to consider overseas travel requests by former prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra because she is now facing criminal charges on the rice-pledging scheme in which is tainted with massive corruption, said an NCPO spokesman.
The spokesman said as the trial on criminal charges filed against Ms Yingluck by the Office of the Attorney-General is approaching, the NCPO must carefully consider both her reasons for traveling and the law, so that it would not have an impact on the legal procedure.
On January 23, the National Legislative Assembly voted to impeach Ms Yingluck, Thailand’s first female prime minister, and immediately barred her from engaging in political activities for five years.
The Assembly action charged her with dereliction of duty for failing to stop corruption and massive losses in the rice-pledging scheme promoted by her government.
On the same day, the Office of the Attorney-General filed criminal charges against her regarding the scheme.
The spokesman’s remarks were made after reliable sources of the Royal Thai Army said earlier that Ms Yingluck in late January told the NCPO that she would like to travel to Hong Kong yesterday, February 8.
Her request was turned down and the NCPO asked her to postpone her trip.
