Yingluck was scheduled to appear at the Thai Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on Friday but failed to show up. The court was going to announce a decision on her alleged negligence in a rice-pledging scheme.

After she didn’t appear in court, border officials and sources

speculated that Yingluck could have boarded a speedboat from Rayong to an island such as Koh Chang, Koh Kood or Koh Laoya, in Trat province, before travelling on to Cambodia.

Officials in Pursat province in Cambodia Sunday said Thai officials had closed an illegal border crossing in Mueang district in Trat province on August 19, though they claimed it was for an unrelated issue.

Officials in Thailand, Singapore and Dubai didn’t respond to requests for comment Sunday.

Reports had it that Yingluck got help to secure a Cambodian passport in order to travel to Singapore in a private jet and later fly to Dubai, where her older brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as prime minister in 2006, is now believed to be living in self-imposed exile.

However, Cambodian officials denied the claims of Yingluck making her escape through Cambodia. Chhay Buna, who is in charge of border checkpoints, claimed it was just a “rumour, and not true”.

“If Yingluck crossed the border, [she] may have been seen by other people around, but no one [saw her],” he said, calling the media “unprofessional” for not asking Cambodian officials to confirm the information.

“[They] only put their own analysis,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sok Sophorn, deputy chief of the Passport Department, maintained his department only issues passports for Cambodian citizens. “Ms Yingluck [is] Thai, she is not Cambodian, so I don’t issue a passport to the foreigners.”

Sophorn said he would only investigate the claim that Yingluck received help obtaining a Cambodian passport if he was assigned to look into the issue by his superiors.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior’s Immigration Department, Lieutenant General Kerm Sarin, maintained there was no report in the system of Yingluck having departed to Singapore from Cambodia, or of her being issued a Cambodian passport.

“For the time being, we don’t have any report. There is no record,” he said. “We don’t have any record that Yingluck left from Cambodia to Singapore.”

Sarin added officials with his department were not in communication with Thai authorities as of Sunday.

Khek Norinda, spokesman for Cambodia Airports, only claimed officials had “no information about this case”, without answering specific questions. Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak couldn’t be reached.

If Yingluck is found guilty, she could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics.

Hun Sen is reputed to have close ties to Yingluck’s brother Thaksin, whom the premier in 2009 referred to as his “eternal friend”, offering a residence in Cambodia three years after Thaksin was convicted on corruption charges. That same year, the Cambodian government said it would not extradite Thaksin, with Hun Sen telling reporters that Thaksin could serve as his “economic adviser”.

Yingluck’s family has other ties to Cambodian politicians too. In 2013, the daughter of Yaowapa Wongsawat, another of Thaksin’s younger sisters, married the son of Cambodian lawmaker Seang Nam. Nam couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday.

If it were true that Yingluck fled through Cambodia, she wouldn’t be the first one to have escaped to the Kingdom. Jakrapob Penkair, a former minister and adviser to Thaksin who helped to found the country’s “Red Shirt” movement, fled to Cambodia a few years ago. He didn’t respond to a request for comment Sunday, but is still believed to be in exile in Cambodia.

Winthai’s statement followed growing criticism of the government’s handling of the controversial case, especially with regards to Yingluck’s disappearance ahead of the Supreme Court’s sentencing last Friday in the rice-pledging case.

Lt-General Weerachon Sukon-patipak, deputy government spokesman, said the Foreign Ministry was taking steps to revoke the ex-premier’s passport.

However, Weerachon said there was no official confirmation of Yingluck’s whereabouts at this stage amid unconfirmed reports that she was seeking asylum in the UK after fleeing Thailand before the verdict reading.

National security sources said authorities had previously focused on the consequences of a guilty verdict in the Yingluck case more than the probability that she would flee the country to avoid punishment. At this stage, it remains unclear how Yingluck’s disappearance could affect the domestic political scene.

One possibility is that Pheu Thai Party will resort to its previous strategy used following Thaksin Shinawatra’s disappearance just before his court sentencing several years ago, in which the party tried to capitalise on claims of injustice in the country, which was then also ruled by a military-led government.

Regarding Pheu Thai Party’s leadership, sources said, Khunying Sudarat Keyurapun was tipped as a top candidate to lead the party following Yingluck’s disappearance, which could have an impact on the party’s image and grassroots support

Meanwhile, Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association of Thai Constitution Protection Organsiation, said the group would petition the National Anti-Corruption Commission today regarding senior government officials’ failure to prevent Yingluck from fleeing the country.

Srisuwan said allowing Yingluck to escape demonstrated negligence of official duties under the anti-graft and related laws, so Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and national police chief Pol General Chaktip Chaijinda must be held accountable.

Meanwhile, prison authorities will today allow relatives to visit former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and others convicted in the case of bogus government-to-government rice export deals.

Boonsong and former deputy commerce minister Phumi Saraphol were sentenced to 42 and 36 years respectively last Friday for causing Bt16-billion financial damages to the state.

Tawatchai Chaiwat, chief of the Klongprem Central Prison, said Boonsong and the others slept in the same room at the prison and had told officials they had not slept well on their first night, which was not unusual for newcomers.

Boonsong’s lawyers are preparing to seek a temporary release of the ex-commerce minister, who plans to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court. Under the current Constitution, both defendants and plaintiffs can seek a review of judgments regardless of whether there is new evidence.

Previously, Boonsong’s lawyers presented a Bt30-million guarantee to the court to bail out the ex-minister, but his release was not approved last Friday.

Lawyers said relatives were ready to provide more financial guarantees if the court considers granting approval for the temporary release.

Pinthongta and Paethongtarn, who are the daughters of her brother Thaksin, used social media to show the appreciation.

The elder daughter, Pinthongta, posted a photo to her Instagram account @aimpintongta of her looking happy with her husband’s family on Saturday night and said she wanted to thank everyone for the support they had given her and her family.

“These days, there are so many things far from our ability … I just try to do my duty in every role,” she wrote. In the photo, she looked happy.

Thaksin’s younger daughter Paethongtarn also posted a photo to her Instagram account @ingshin21 with the message: “Some people are going to love you no matter what you do. And some people will never love you no matter what you do.”

“But I love you no matter what. Thank you for all moral support,” she posted with an emoticon of press palms together to show gratitude.

Some media reports said Yingluck fled Thailand last Wednesday and is now with her brother Thaksin in Dubai. There is also speculation she might seek asylum in the United Kingdom.

Thaksin is another a former prime minister toppled by a military coup. He now lives in Dubai and London in self-imposed exile to avoid abuse-of-power charges.

An arrest warrant was issued for Yingluck by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday after she failed to turn up for the verdict reading in the negligence case against her former government’s controversial rice-pledging scheme. The court postponed the verdict reading to September 27 and ordered the seizure of Yingluck’s Bt30-million bail.

Even though Yingluck has fled the country, several of her relatives have shown that they stand by her.

Chayika Wongnaphachan, the daughter of Yingluck’s elder sister Yaowares Shinawatra, posted a picture of her hugging Yingluck on Instagram. In the picture, Yingluck beamed while holding the 2016 calendar that displayed a picture of herself and Thaksin.

Chayapa Wongsawat, another niece of Yingluck, commented on Chayika’s post – “We will all miss you”.

Yingluck, whose government was toppled by the military in 2014, pulled a dramatic disappearing act before a scheduled court judgment on Friday in a criminal negligence trial.

She faced up to ten years in prison and a lifetime political ban if convicted. But instead she was a no show, with junta and party sources saying she had fled abroad.

Analysts say Yingluck most likely cut a secret deal with the junta to exit the country — a charge the military has denied.

The leadership is desperate to avoid instability as it digs in for a long stay.

The junta says it does not yet know how the country’s first female prime minister managed to slip the net.

But key conservative figures, some of whom agitated for the coup that toppled Yingluck and are seen as political allies of the junta, rounded on the military in a series of statements over the weekend.

“It was clear that security officials followed her closely and took photographs of her everywhere she went, all the time. But she still was able to escape,” Panthep Puapongpan, one of the leaders of 2014 protests against Yingluck’s government, told reporters.

“With Yingluck now escaped, the government, the security forces and the NCPO has to take responsibility,” he added, using the official acronym for the junta.

Veera Somkwankid, another prominent opponent of the Shinawatra political dynasty, took to Facebook to vent his frustration.

“The government must hunt down the traitors and punish the persons (who might have helped her escape), otherwise the NCPO will end up being the defendant,” he wrote.

Yingluck frequently complained of being constantly followed by military intelligence since she was ousted from office.

Thai media has been filled with speculation over how she might have escaped, with most suggesting she went to Cambodia either by land or sea in the days before the court verdict and then on to Singapore.

A senior junta source told AFP they believed she had fled to Dubai, the base of Shinawatra family patriarch Thaksin, who is Yingluck’s older brother.

The Shinawatra political dynasty emerged under Thaksin in 2001 with a series of groundbreaking welfare schemes that won them votes and the loyalty of the rural poor.

But their popularity rattled the royalist and army-aligned elite, who assailed successive governments linked to the clan with coups, court cases and protests.

Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup and fled overseas two years later to avoid jail for a corruption conviction.

The period since then — dubbed the “Lost Decade” — has seen frequent deadly street protests, short-lived governments and the return of military rule in 2014.

Pintongta and Peathongtarn, who are the daughters of her brother Thaksin, used social media to show the appreciation.

Elder daughter Pintongta posted a photo to her Instagram account (@aimpintongta) of her looking happy with her husband’s family on Saturday night and said she wanted to thank everyone for the support they had given her and her family.

“These days, there are so many things far from our ability … I just try to do my duty in every role the best,” she wrote. In the photo, she looked happy.

Thaksin’s younger daughter Peathongtarn also posted a photo to her Instagram account (@ingshin21) with the message: “Some people are going to love you no matter what you do. And some people will never love you no matter what you do.”

“But I love you no matter what. Thanks for all the moral support.”

Those are the latest comments by anyone in the Shinawatra family since Yingluck fled the country.

Some media reports said she fled Thailand last Wednesday and is now with her brother Thaksin in Dubai. There is also speculation she might seek asylum in the United Kingdom.

Thaksin is also a former prime minister and was also toppled by a military coup. He now lives in Dubai and London in self-imposed exile to avoid abuse-of-power charges.

An arrest warrant was issued for Yingluck by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday after she failed to turn up for the verdict reading in the negligence case against her former government’s controversial rice-pledging scheme.

The court postponed the verdict reading to September 27 and ordered the seizure of Yingluck’s Bt30-million bail.

Vicha Mahakun, formerly a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), said the investigators had to put a great deal of effort into their work before they could gain cooperation from key witnesses and convince public prosecutors to bring the case to court.

“I don’t know if it’s because of our luck that we could conclude the investigation and come up with an indictment. But criminals often leave traces. We focused on the suspicious facts that often exist in big projects such as this,” Vicha said in a recent interview with Nation Group reporters.

He said the NACC had discovered massive irregularities stemming from the Yingluck government’s rice-pledging scheme and warned her administration in writing twice to discontinue the policy. The Auditor General’s Office sent four similar warnings to that government, saying that most farmers had not benefitted from the policy.

However, the government at that time ignored the warnings, arguing that it was a policy and election campaign promise to implement a rice-pledging scheme.

That was before the NACC received a complaint asking it to investigate Yingluck for alleged negligence, because she was in charge of a policy that was allegedly plagued with graft, said Vicha, who served on the NACC from 2006 to 2015.

The complaint came after Yingluck’s commerce minister, Boonsong Teriyapirom, and other government officials were accused of malfeasance over supposed government-to-government (G-to-G) deals to sell rice from state stockpiles to China.

Vicha said investigators were initially unsure if Yingluck should be charged with negligence, so they spent a lot to time looking into the details. The investigators later concluded that there were irregularities in the rice-pledging project and the sale of pledged rice through G-to-G deals.

“It was the responsibility of the government head to stop the project. The ministers responsible could not do so because they were frequently replaced,” he said.

Vicha said that, at that time, he discussed the case only with people he trusted. “Walls have ears. I had to keep our findings secret,” he added.

A former judge who is now dean of Law Faculty at Rangsit University, Vicha said that as chairperson of the National Rice Policy Committee, Yingluck could not claim that she was unaware of the massive loss of state funds in the graft-plagued project.

He pointed out that the project’s audit subcommittee reported to then-prime minister Yingluck three times about the increasing accumulative loss – Bt32.2 billion as of October 2012, Bt200-plus billion as of May 2013, and Bt332.3 billion as of October 2013.

In its reports, the subcommittee noted that the debt burden would become uncontrollable for the government and the cost of managing the rice in state stockpiles would be huge, according to Vicha.

He said a key to solving the G-to-G puzzle was the discovery that the supposed deals to sell rice to the Chinese government were not done through China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation. The state-owned holding company is empowered to represent the central Chinese government in the international purchase and sale of agricultural products.

According to Vicha, the G-to-G deals were found to be “fake” as the rice sold had never been exported. He said it was found that people claiming to represent Chinese state companies in the deals in fact worked for wealthy businessman Apichart Chansakulporn, better known as “Sia Piang”.

On Friday, Boonsong and Apichart were found guilty by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders, which sentenced them to 42 years and 48 years in jail, respectively. They were among 20 people jailed in connection with the G-to-G rice scandal.

Vicha also said that before the investigators could crack the G-to-G code, they had to get information from some key rice traders who were part of the graft scandal. Those people agreed to become NACC witnesses on condition that they were given protection from prosecution.

“They were the last piece of the jigsaw. Without their cooperation, the NACC probe would have been more difficult and have taken a longer time,” Vicha said.

The last obstacle, he said, was with public prosecutors who repeatedly refused to bring the case to court. Vicha said that even after the NACC resolved to charge Yingluck with negligence, it took a long time before it could convince the Attorney General’s Office that a case should be filed against her with the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

The source, who is well placed in the security hierarchy, gave a detailed description of her escape, saying she took a private jet from Thailand to Singapore and on to Dubai, AFP reported.

Dubai is the base of Shinawatra family patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Yingluck’s elder brother.

“Thaksin has long prepared an escape plan for his sister. He would not allow his sister to spend even a single day in prison,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

“But Dubai is not Yingluck’s final destination,” the source said, adding she may be aiming “to claim asylum in Britain”.

Thaksin, who once owned Manchester City football club, owns property in London and spends significant amounts of time in the city.

The Shinawatras’ political network remained tight-lipped yesterday in a media blackout that only served to heighten speculation over her dash from Thailand and the likelihood of a possible deal with the junta to allow her to leave.

A senior source inside the family’s Pheu Thai Party, also requesting anonymity, told AFP that Yingluck had fled the country for Dubai a few days before the ruling. Another party source told CNN that she left for Dubai on Wednesday.

Analysts say Yingluck, who was closely monitored by Thai security services, most likely cut a deal to exit the country.

The decision to flee helps her avoid being jailed under a Thai junta that pressed for her trial and diminishes the possibility of pro-Shinawatra protests.

Had she been jailed, Yingluck’s plight could have stirred anger and unrest among her large support base.

The military is desperate to avoid instability as it digs in for a long stay in Thai politics.

Political scientist Thawee Surarittikul said there was suspicion that the security authorities and people in power were instrumental in helping Yingluck leave the country, despite a court ban on her travelling overseas.

However, he viewed her escape as a “win-win option” for both the junta and Yingluck.

Chaiyan Chaiyaporn, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said if the former PM really had been helped to flee by people in power, “that would be damaging to the justice system and confidence in the country’s security”.

Meanwhile, Colonel Winthai Suvaree, spokesperson for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said yesterday there had been no security meeting to address Yingluck’s escape.

Prime Minister and NCPO chief Prayut Chan-o-cha had issued no special orders relating to the issue, Winthai said.

Normal laws would be enforced to catch Yingluck following an arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Court, he said.

“You have to understand that the border is long and there is natural border route,” he said. “Authorities work at their full force to monitor illegal things being imported to the country or use the route to flee the country.”

In a related development, a key red-shirt leader said Yingluck’s disappearance would make it harder for the group to advocate for the rule of law.

“If everyone runs away and goes abroad, it means the fight for the rule of law would be a long one,” Thida Thavornseth, a key United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) leader, told The Straits Times.

“We understand. Maybe it is good for her. We cannot ask her to donate all her life to the fight [for democracy],” she said.

Privately, some Pheu Thai supporters mused at how awkward it was that Yingluck skipped court at the last moment after braving two years of legal processes that supporters claim were stacked against her. But they felt public sympathy would eventually outweigh that surprise.

However, Ubon Ratchathani political scientist Titipol Phakdeewanich said Yingluck’s no-show would not greatly affect |Pheu Thai. “The arrest warrant reinforces the idea that Yingluck and Pheu Thai were victims of the system,” he said.

Noted macro economist, Dr Nipon Poapongsakorn, acting programme director of the sectoral economic programme at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), is behind the two studies that have helped the public learn more what went wrong with the populist policy and the lessons learned. He talked to The Nation’s Piyaporn Wongruang.

COULD YOU SHARE WITH US THE IDEAS BEHIND THESE TWO STUDIES?

Because of these two studies, I became one of the witnesses giving testimony to the NACC. But, in fact, these two studies were aimed at looking how best to prevent irregularities occurring and causing damage to the scheme; how we could have the right policies to prevent corruption and help farmers gain the utmost benefits. They were not to pinpoint any wrongdoers at all.

The first study was done during the Thaksin Shinawatra government, looking into the rice mortgage scheme it had introduced. It was initiated by one of the NACC member, Methee Krongkaew, who viewed that the NACC should work also on prevention as addressed by its law. So, we started looking at the government’s intervention measures in key crops, including rice, because we had learned that corruption was already rampant. (During the Thaksin government in 2005, the policy shifted extensively as it allowed a large volume of rice to be mortgaged with the government – nearly 9 million tonnes – with the prices set higher than market price.)

The study led to prime recommendations that the government should not intervene in the market in such a way that was deemed open to corruption. Instead, it should introduce a price-guarantee scheme to farmers, under which differences in the rice prices would be compensated by the government – giving compensation for price shortfalls directly to farmers. With this, the government would not have to bear a number of burdens, such as taking care of rice stocks and distribution, and so on.

In the second study, which was supported by the Thailand Research Fund, we focused on the Yingluck government’s pledge that it would introduce the scheme again and it would take almost every grain of rice. (During the Yingluck government’s scheme, introduced in 2011, about 25 million tonnes was included.) Our goal is to find right policies that help prevent corruption.

WHAT DID YOU FIND YOU IN PARTICULAR IN THE SECOND STUDY?

We learned about corruption in every step of the scheme – from farmers to rice distribution. But our focus was on rice distribution in particular, as [we could apply scientific methods] to prove our assumptions, and account for the damage.

To look at irregularities in the government-to-government deals, I asked for the statistics on rice exports under the scheme from the Customs Department, and learned that only around 200 tonnes of rice had been exported. The government had claimed that it had exported over one million tonnes of rice of the first scheme year already. We also found out a lot more – including the take-over of controls of reports on rice exports, so that the government could conceal or control the facts.

The other exciting fact concerned the massive loss of stocks of rice during 2013-2014. As much as 3 million tonnes of rice disappeared, and that led to discoveries of the tricks applied. Eventually, we calculated the damage caused in the scheme was around Bt500 billion.

HOW HAVE ALL THESE REFLECTED FLAWS IN POLICY BEEN ADDRESSED?

As you can see, this is all about policy-making, and it prompted me to question why they came up with such the scheme in the first place.

Why every grain of rice? Why pay Bt 15,000 per tonne to farmers? If you can recall another policy that was introduced almost at the same time, you will understand. It’s the Bt300 daily payment increase for labourers. These two policies helped Pheu Thai win a landslide election.

And if you win the election, you then can do what you wish next, so we later saw the fierce push for an amnesty bill that would yield benefits to Khun Thaksin.

I think they did not think of the damage that these policies would cause – although they may have thought they could handle it

I think these two policies were there to bluff the Democrats, who had introduced something different, but they became more and more appreciated by farmers. Saying that every grain of rice will be taken and you will get Bt 15,000 at least is a very strong and powerful message; one that people understand right away.

Politically, they won over both the rural middle class and the poor farmers. The Bt300 labour payment increase policy helped them win the labourers in the city. But they did not think or care about the impacts that followed.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THESE POLICIES, AND HOW SHOULD WE PUT IN PLACE SOUND POLICIES FOR THE PUBLIC FROM NOW ON?

Simply put, these are the policies that fail, and have flaws. They totally lack governance, and are not subject to accountability and transparency at all. We need to correct this. It’s true that you need to garner votes, but you cannot spend the state budget to serve political interests.

The new charter has addressed how to fix this … but I think the most effective way is to consider how can we make people learn and become aware of flawed populist policies and corruption. This can be started with practices on the ground.

The land tax is one of the best ways to start, in my view, as people would learn about their shares and benefits and learn how to protect their best interests. They will follow how the money collected from them is used in their localities. This is people’s true participation in policy addressing and scrutinising. What is written in the charter will become meaningless if we cannot make it happen in real life.

Yingluck has been a major symbol of the democracy battle over the past several years, but her withdrawal does not mean the end of the crusade because new players could emerge, they said.

Weng Tojirakarn, a leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, rejected the notion that the red-shirt movement would come to an end because of Yingluck’s retreat. The UDD, as its name suggested, centred around the fight for democracy and against dictatorship, not a particular person, the activist said.

“It is nonsense to say that we will be weakened as a result of what happened, because it is democracy that is the grounding foundation of our movement, not Yingluck or anyone,” Weng said.

He went on to explain, however, that the reason it seemed the red-shirt movement was close to the Pheu Thai Party and its leaders such as Yingluck was the mere fact that they had gracefully come to power through democratic means, via an election.

“So, although Yingluck is gone, the fight will continue,” he said. “And although Yingluck has been one image that the red-shirt people have fought for, democracy does not just die with her leaving.”

Weng expressed confidence that the Thai people were well aware of the situation and could understand perfectly why Yingluck had to flee. They respected her decision and now looked forward to supporting leaders who sided with democracy.

Veteran political critic Sukhum Nualsakul said that it was hard to see the way ahead now, because things had not yet settled. But, he said, one thing was for sure: it is too soon to say that this is the end of the Shinawatra era.

“Thaksin Shinawatra was like the soul of Pheu Thai, and he was one person among those driving the democratic forces. Yet, without him, everything was still able to continue all these years,” Sukhum said.

“So, maybe we will see new figures rising up either from the Shinawatra family or a proxy like Samak Sundaravej.”

Sukhum did not think that the UDD or the democracy movement in general would become drastically weakened after Yingluck fled the country.

One leader was down, but there were many other things that they could hold onto to drive them forward in the battle for democracy, he said.

“But now it is hard to tell. Because of the restriction of political movement and everything, we will not be able to see anything or know anything for sure at least until the election,” Sukhum stressed.

Chamnan Chanruang, a Chiang Mai-based political scientist, pointed out that the incident might not be advantageous to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), as many people think. The fact that Yingluck was unable to remain in the Kingdom despite her long and brave fight might have a negative affect on the junta, he said. The NCPO might now face rumours and accusations.

“For instance, word may spread that Yingluck had to flee or she wouldn’t have survived,” he said. “This could discredit the NCPO and might result in a certain degree of chaos. So, the NCPO must be prepared, too.”

However, Chamnan did not quite agree with Yingluck’s move. In any political battle, she might not yield the best result when fighting from outside the country, he said.

“Remaining in Thailand, it might take a longer time to fight – but it is harder to fight from abroad. If Yingluck is put in jail, a crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 people could be expected to camp outside the prison,” Chamnan said, implying that the current regime would be put under additional political pressure.

The nine judges of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on the panel trying Yingluck’s case were scheduled to read their individual decisions on Friday. A discussion between the judges was then expected to lead to a majority opinion but after Yingluck jumped bail and did not appear in court, the decisions of the nine judges remained sealed in envelopes.

The judges are not allowed to discuss their decision with each other until the day of the ruling. The final ruling will be based on a majority decision of the nine judges, said the source. Because Yingluck did not attend the court ruling on Friday, the court was required by law to issue a warrant for her arrest and have her brought to court within a |month.

The law authorises the judges to announce their individual |decisions at the subsequent |official ruling on September 27, |a month after the originally |scheduled reading. The presence of the defendant would not be necessary on that date, the source added.

Meanwhile, police were yesterday still gathering evidence required to obtain a search warrant for Yingluck’s Bangkok house, a senior official said.

House being monitored

Metropolitan Police Area 4 chief Maj-General Nanthachat Supamongkol, who oversees Lat Phrao Police Station, which has jurisdiction covering Yingluck’s house, said the search warrant was a sensitive issue so he needed to wait for his supervisor’s command.

Nanthachat said he had ordered police forces to be |dispatched to monitor her |house and keep law and order there.

So far, there was nothing happening at the property, he said. Police had talked to Yingluck’s maids and housekeepers but they denied knowing anything. “We are sure we have not overlooked anything. We have emphasised to officers the need to strictly monitor the place and will do it for a while until the situation returns to normal,” he said.

Yingluck’s house in Bangkok’s Bueng Kum District has been very quiet since she fled the country days before facing the verdict. Some media are still staking out the front of her house in case anything significant happens.