The wife of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by a military coup last month, returned to Thailand on Wednesday the deadline for Thaksin to declare his assets to an anti-corruption agency, officials said yesterday.

Pojamarn Shinawatra arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon, having left the country on September 25 to join her husband in London, where the family owns an apartment and where their daughter is attending university.

Thaksin, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly when military leaders seized power September 19, has not returned to Thailand since, opting to stay in London. He has been warned by the military that he should not yet return because it could endanger the country's stability.

"She came back by herself. No one else came back with her," said an official from the Thai Rak Thai Party that Thaksin founded and once headed. "She returned quietly, around (3 pm), and then just returned home. A small team went to pick her up."

He said that he believed she returned in order to submit Thaksin's assets declaration to the National Counter Corruption Commission, as is mandatory for all Cabinet members within 30 days after leaving office.

NCCC member Klanarong Chantik confirmed yesterday that Thaksin handed in his declaration on time. He said the ministers' declarations would be made public in 30 days.

The new regime has set as one of its top priorities investigations into alleged corruption by Thaksin and members of his government, vowing to punish any wrongdoing.

Thaksin's family is among the richest in Thailand, with numerous assets held in the names of his wife and children.

Local newspapers reported that two of their grown children also returned to Bangkok, but the official said they did not accompany her.

Source: China Daily