UPDATE: Thailand To Push Thaksin Extradition Wherever He Goes

(Adds that Thaksin might seek asylum in the U.A.E)

BANGKOK (AFP)--Thai authorities vowed Monday to press for the extradition of Thaksin Shinawatra no matter where he lives, as the ousted prime minister searched for a refuge after the U.K. revoked his visa.

Thaksin, toppled in a military coup in September 2006, was last month sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for conflict of interest after helping his wife Pojaman buy state-owned land when he was premier.

Local media reported that the multimillionaire is in China, with some saying he is set to fly to the Philippines, which Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat - Thaksin's brother-in-law - visited Monday.

"No matter China or the Philippines, we have an extradition treaty with both countries," Sirisak Tiypan, director general for international affairs of the Office of the Attorney General, said.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman said Monday Thaksin would be turned away if he applied for asylum, although the country said it hadn't received any request.

"He will be courteously informed that he will not be received here," spokesman Jesus Dureza told local television.

Sirisak said that even if Thaksin decides to live in a country with which Thailand has no extradition treaty, authorities could ask for him to be handed over on a reciprocal basis.

The Bahamas, Bermuda and several countries in Africa that aren't believed to have extradition agreements with Thailand have reportedly offered to take in Thaksin and his wife.

Aides said, however, Thaksin might head for the United Arab Emirates.

"If he can't go anywhere, he plans to stay long in Dubai," one Thaksin aide said on condition of anonymity.

Thaksin has spent most of his time since the 2006 coup in self-imposed exile in the U.K., where he bought and subsequently sold Manchester City football club to a U.A.E.-based investment group.

He returned to Thailand in February this year, but swiftly fled again in August after his wife was sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion.

Sirisak said Thaksin has until the end of next week to appeal against his conviction, but the ex-premier's legal advisor said he wouldn't challenge the decision.

"We will not appeal," the advisor, Wichit Plangsriskul, said.

"However we have not received any contact from Thaksin. It is possible that Thaksin and Pojaman will return to Thailand to fight the charges when the justice process is back to normal," Wichit said.

The reasons for the U.K. government's decision to revoke the couple's visas, which emerged Saturday, remain unclear.

Thailand has suffered months of unrest, with Thaksin's critics in the People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, occupying the grounds of the prime minister's offices in protest since August.

They accuse the current government of running the country on his behalf.

Thaksin addressed his supporters in Thailand on Nov. 1, denouncing his opponents in a telephone address to 90,000 loyal supporters packed into a Bangkok sports stadium.

The tycoon, who has a loyal support base among the kingdom's majority rural poor, plans another phone-in rally in Bangkok in late November, with the date yet to be confirmed, said Jatuporn Prompan, from a pro-Thaksin group.

"During the phone-in, he (Thaksin) will disclose the names of his political enemies," Jatuporn said.