Deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra [File photo].
Last Update: Tuesday, October 3, 2006. 3:40pm (AEST)

Thaksin resigns from political party

Deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned as head of his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party, triggering the dissolution of its entire executive in the wake of last month's military coup.

"The changing circumstances have prompted me to preserve the future of everyone who loves the party. Therefore, I quit the party leadership," spokesman Pongthep Thepkanjana quoted Mr Thaksin as saying in a letter.

The billionaire telecoms tycoon remains in exile in London while an army-appointed anti-corruption panel investigates his assets and business dealings.

Mr Thaksin's resignation triggered the automatic dissolution of the 119-strong executive of Thai Rak Thai, which means Thais Love Thais, although it does not mean its end as a political entity.

At least 70 TRT members of Parliament quit the party on Monday in an apparent attempt to avoid any bans on politics that derive from the anti-corruption probes that have been set up against Thaksin and his former cabinet colleagues.

Former deputy prime minister and foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai and ex-labour minister Somsak Thepsuthin led Monday's mass resignations, the first sign of the break-up of a political juggernaut that won two landslide elections on a platform of cheap public healthcare and rural loans.

At the height of its power after the 2005 general election, TRT had three-quarters of the 500 seats in Parliament.

- Reuters