Gotabaya Rajapaksa: ousted Sri Lankan president arrives in Thailand after Singapore stay

He fled anti-government protests last month

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa at Bangkok's Don Mueang International airport. Reuters

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who last month fled anti-government protests in his country, arrived in Thailand on Thursday night on a flight from Singapore, where he had been staying since mid-July.

Thai television stations showed Mr Rajapaksa and a woman believed to be his wife outside the VIP hall at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport as they were led to a limousine, which then drove off to an undisclosed destination.

Officials in Thailand on Wednesday said they had been asked by the Sri Lankan government to allow him entry, and that he would be permitted to stay temporarily.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he was aware of Mr Rajapaksa’s intended visit and that it was allowed for humanitarian reasons because the former president was seeking asylum in a third country.

He did not elaborate but said Mr Rajapaksa would not engage in political activity while in Thailand.

Mr Rajapaksa has made no public comments about his travel plans. After fleeing Sri Lanka last month, he first went to the neighbouring Maldives aboard a Sri Lankan military plane and then to Singapore, where his visa expired on Thursday.

He submitted his resignation only after he left Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankans staged massive street protests for months demanding democratic reforms and solutions after the country’s economy collapsed.

Protesters who occupied official offices and residences in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, accused the Rajapaksa family of mismanagement and corruption that caused the economic crisis, leading to serious shortages of essentials such as medicines, food and fuel.

The island nation is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for an economic bailout.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said Wednesday that Mr Rajapaksa’s stay was “temporary in nature, with the aim of onward travel. No political asylum has been sought”.

He said the ousted president held a diplomatic passport and would be allowed to stay for 90 days without a visa.

In addition to being criticised for mismanaging his country’s economy, Mr Rajapaksa has been accused by human rights groups of being involved in war crimes when he was defence secretary during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which ended in 2009.