Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, sentenced last month to two years in jail for breaking a conflict of interest law, urged his supporters yesterday to help bring him home from exile in Britain.

Thaksin, who jumped bail to London in August, said the case against him was politically motivated by his opponents and the jail term was meant to keep him out of the country's political arena for at least ten years.

"Nobody can bring me home except Their Majesties' graciousness or the will of the people," Thaksin said in a 10-minute telephone call from Hong Kong to tens of thousands of supporters in red shirts at a Bangkok stadium.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.