Thai police are seeking an international request for the arrest of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is now believed to be in the UK after fleeing to Dubai to evade a prison sentence.

Deputy police commissioner general Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates confirmed that Yingluck went from Dubai to the UK.

He said he asked international police body Interpol to issue a red notice, a request to locate and provisionally arrest someone pending extradition.

Yingluck, whose government was ousted in a 2014 coup, was sentenced in absentia to five years' imprisonment on September 27 for negligence in instituting a money-losing rice subsidy programme.

She fled Thailand before the verdict and has called the case against her politically motivated.

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.