Kritsana said deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul had instructed police to follow up the issue closely and extradite the case.

They have been in contact with Interpol and asked it to issue a preliminary blue notice, which asks foreign countries to help locate wanted people, and red notice, which is effectively an international arrest warrant.

However, Kritsana, said the international agency had not yet issued a red because it believed its Thai counterparts had not submitted adequate evidence.

The police need to file more evidence as instructed, including the full verdict in Yingluck’s case in English, Kritsana said.

He said police had not yet received confirmation in regard to information that Yingluck is now in London, nor did it know about claims that she had sought asylum in the United Kingdom.

Thai police have also been in contacted with UK authorities, and would proceed with every needed legal procedure.

It was his third try to hand his decade-old Seiko watch to the junta’s second in command, who allegedly has a collection of extravagant and expensive watches.

Ekachai didn’t get to approach Prawit, but two police officers received it on behalf of the Deputy PM.

Prawit has been the subject of investigation for allegedly concealing his wealth, including a series of watches with multi-million-baht pricetags. This is despite his failure to declare any assets worth more than Bt200,000 to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NAAC).

Prawit has stood firm and has reportedly sent a letter of clarification to the NACC, but neither party has disclosed his explanation to the public

On Tuesday, Ekachai said wished to hand the watch to Prawit as a symbolic protest.

“Any type of clock can tell the time – and the junta’s time is now up,” the activist said. “They said they would stay here for a short period of time, but even if there is an election this year there is no certainty [that they will go].”

He said his ministry would cooperate with Johnson’s now that Yingluck’s whereabouts are known.

It was the first admission from the ministry that Yingluck had fled to Britain, where her brother Thaksin runs a business and owns a residence.

In October, police cited Dubai authorities in saying Yingluck had left the United Arab Emirates on September 11 and moved to Britain.

There were no further significant updates until photos of Yingluck in London and Oxford appeared in the media last week.

Don declined to say whether Thailand would issue an objection to the British government if Yingluck applied for asylum there.

“It is not the Foreign Ministry’s duty to answer that question,” he said

He pointed that all of Yingluck’s Thai travel documents had been revoked, so she must have entered Britain with a passport issued by another country.

He added that Yingluck’s presence in Britain should not affect Thailand-UK relations.

Paiboon said that by being a prime minister outside the PM lists prepared by political parties as required by the charter, Prayut could be a “neutral PM for all”.

Under the 2017 Constitution, an outsider PM is allowed if Parliament fails to pick a premier from the proposed lists.

Paiboon said his party would support such a “PM Prayut”.

It has already gathered more than 500 members and plans to register as a new party by March, he added.

In a related matter, Deputy Premier Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Monday that the holding of local elections was still possible, but declined to confirm whether they could take place in the middle of the year as projected by the Interior Ministry.

Wissanu, the government’s main lawyer, said the amendments of at least six laws related to local elections were being revised by concerned parties, including the Election Commission, and would be potentially forwarded to the National Legislative Assembly by February.

Local elections, he added, could be held within 45 to 60 days, the required period of preparation, which is shorter than that set for the national election.

The government, he pointed out, wished to see them held first and not to be close to the general election.

The government is now expediting the scrutiny of administrative officials currently barred from politics to see which of them would be returned to their posts and able to re-enter the political arena, he added.

The committee had already finished reviewing the bill and made changes to 17 clauses, said Taweesak Sukawatin, spokesman for the committee on Monday.

The committee and the Election Commission all agreed that the clause outlining the method of calculating MPs should be revised, he said.

The legislators would try to figure out how to apportion MP’s seats in the event that the calculation formula yields a result in fractions or decimals, and not a round number, Taweesak explained.

The organic bill on the MPs must also align with the Constitution as well as the recent junta order imposing the timeframe for political parties to work on membership registration, he said.

Review of the bill is expected to be completed later this month and added to the NLA agenda, Taweesak said.

The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday chaired the meeting with relevant officials at the Defence Ministry to update them on the work of the reconciliation preparation committee over the past year.

After meeting with political parties and groups, the government-appointed committee late last year came up with a 15-point declaration towards reconciliation that is being touted as a “social contract” between concerned parties.

Prawit said the premier’s declaration had nothing to do with the ongoing reconciliation process as it’s Prawit’s own matter. Efforts would now focus more on raising public awareness about the matter as the committee believes that the public remains largely unaware of the process, he added.

Relevant government offices would adopt the declaration into their work plans.

“Forces” would also be dispatched to work on the ground in a bid to dissolve political “colours” among the people, Prawit said.

Prawit insisted that the next moves have nothing to do with the coming election. He also urged the public to “avoid frustration” by not mixing them up.

The Deputy PM said he would not contest the election. He said that in his present position he is not a politician and will not change his military status to that of a politician. He entered politics merely to accomplish the assigned task, Prawit said.

However, said Prawit, he would, as always, support the Prime Minister following his recent declaration as a politician.

MORE THAN four months after fugitive former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is known to have fled the country, the powers-that-be seem to still be in the dark over her current whereabouts. But, are they really unaware and are they serious about finding out where she has been in hiding?

The developments over the past months regarding the roles of the government and relevant authorities have led to a question: Are they really serious about bringing Yingluck back to Thailand?

Yingluck fled the country on August 23, two days before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders was scheduled to deliver a verdict in the negligence case against her that stemmed from her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme. In September, the court sentenced her to five years in jail and she did not appeal against either the verdict or the sentence.

The Thai government and authorities often seem to have been one step behind her, from the day she fled the country, then flew to Dubai, moved to the United Kingdom, and sought political asylum there. They said their counterparts in those countries, including the UK and the United Arab Emirates, did not fully cooperate with them in their hunt for Yingluck, but the Thai authorities – police and public prosecutors included – have not shown a strong determination in pressing those countries.

Political observers view that a situation in which Yingluck is outside the country is a win-win for the ruling junta, which came to power by overthrowing her government in May 2014. If they succeeded in having Yingluck extradited to Thailand and serving her prison sentence, General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government risks angering her supporters and undermining the current fragile political stability.

Ekachai Chainuvati, a legal expert and political critic, said yesterday he could not conclude that the junta was not serious in pursuing Yingluck. He explained that it was rather because the Thai government had no extradition treaty in place with the UK to have the fugitive former PM sent home.

On the other hand the law professor agreed that Yingluck’s absence from Thailand was clearly advantageous to the junta.

“Yingluck has been handed down a five-year jail term. If she were in the Kingdom, she would have been punished by serving the term in prison. It would have been the first time, too, that a former prime minister had been jailed,” Ekachai said. “Considering also the controversy over the rice case, the NCPO would have to put up with considerable political pressure throughout her imprisonment,” he said, referring to the ruling National Council for Peace and Order.

Ekachai also considered it to be easier for the NCPO if Yingluck remained overseas, saying her influence was less from there than if she were back home.

The people in power are obviously treating Yingluck the same way they have dealt with her brother Thaksin, who has lived in exile since 2008 and thus escaped serving a two-year jail term for abuse of power, the observers said. Thaksin has been able to freely travel to different countries, including some of Thailand’s neighbours, and there have been no serious attempts to seek his extradition.

Some observers said they suspected a secret deal had been reached between the powers-that-be and the Thaksin camp for Yingluck to be allowed to stay out of Thailand, in exchange for her keeping a low profile while overseas.

In fact, that is exactly what Yingluck has done since she was last seen publicly in late August last year. Nobody, even people in her Pheu Thai Party, could confirm which country she was in.

There have only been a few photos of Yingluck taken in London and released during the recent Christmas holiday on social media – but Pheu Thai sources said they did not think the photos were intended by Yingluck to make waves. They said if that had been her intention she would have done better to have included many of her supporters in the photos, not just one admirer.

Yingluck applied for political asylum in the UK in November but she has not been granted the status, according to a Pheu Thai source.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is in charge of security affairs, said yesterday that he had only just learned from the media about the latest developments.

Prawit said he had not yet received any report from the security agencies about it but he added that police and the Foreign Affairs Ministry were still trying verifying the latest reports. He also said that the ex-PM’s latest developments had not created any political problems

“Whoever wants to take photos and ask about heated politics and conflicts, just ask this guy,” Prayut said, indicating a mounted life-sized picture of him known as a “standee”. He then waved goodbye and immediately left for his office.

It was disappointing for the parents and children who had come to see the premier in the lead-up to Children’s Day on Saturday. Having no other choice, they took turns taking selfies with the standee.

It has become a annual tradition to put up standees of Prayut – dressed in a suit and tie, and performing various gestures, from extending a handshake to figuring a “heart” sign – all around Government House on Children’s Day for his young guests to take photos and play around.

While refusing to answer questions on politics, the real Prayut did address 785 outstanding children recruited by the Education Ministry.

He said education was a crucial part of human resources development and it was important to engage more young people in politics.

“We have to revamp the whole politics,” he said “We have to engage young people with potential to get in line with 21st-century democracy.

“We also shouldn’t be afraid of politics. We are politics. Everyone is involved in politics,” said Prayut, who recently announced himself to be a politician who used to be a soldier.

“I want stable government with good governance. There are some good politicians but we have to create a new generation of politicians,” he said, adding that “the old generations are aged but also experienced”.

Young politicians are no strangers to the junta government – even though some of them have ended up gaining the attention of the security forces.

In 2015, high school student Parit Chiawarak was escorted out of a Prayut-hosted forum after raising a banner calling on the premier to “educate children to not be corrupt and to be rational instead of memorising civil duties”.

A year later, 13 activists from the New Democracy Movement were detained after distributing pamphlets explaining disadvantages in the draft of the new charter – an act deemed to violate the junta’s ban on political gatherings of more than five people.

Student activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa was last year found guilty of lese majeste for sharing a BBC article. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

“Laws are meant to keep society at peace, not to destroy anyone. I don’t use laws to harm anyone,” Prayut said yesterday. “Everyone has to be cautious with their practices already because everything is conducted by laws.”

He also told students to take case studies from foreign countries, where there are “more rapid and violent changes” than in Thailand.

The premier asked the audience, “Who has maintained the country so that we can become democratic today? We have to move forward to a sustainable democracy in the near future.”