Deposed Philippine President Joseph Estrada applied for political asylum in Thailand last week but was turned down, the Nation newspaper said on Thursday. The daily quoted an unidentified government source as saying Estrada, facing allegations of corruption and economic plunder in his country, made the request by phoning the Thai ambassador to the Philippines. The source told the Nation the Philippine leader, ousted in January when the army rallied to his opponents after huge street protests, made similar asylum requests to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the United States, all via their embassies in Manila.
Economic plunder is a charge carrying the death penalty.
Estrada has denied any wrongdoing and has said that he plans to stay in the Philippines. The Nation said Thailand already had its hands full with border problems with neighbouring Myanmar and the sabotage of a plane that was due to carry Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last Saturday. Thai government officials were not immediately available for comment on the report. All rights reserved.