BANGKOK (AP) The daughters of Thailand's self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra have criticized an online leak of flight details showing they flew first-class to London with eight suitcases. But they denied they were following their father's footsteps and fleeing the country.
Thai Airways said it was investigating if one of its employees committed the ethical breach, which came during Thailand's latest round of mass street protests against Thaksin. The former prime minister was ousted in a 2006 military coup but remains at the center of a long-running political crisis.
A photograph posted online of a computer check-in terminal shows the names, seats and ample baggage allowance of Thaksin's two daughters, Pintongta, 31, and Paetongtarn, 27. It was posted late Thursday, shortly after their flight left Bangkok.
By Friday, the photo was the buzz of Thai-language web forums, with some commentators criticizing the ethics of posting private flight details and others questioning if the Shinawatra sisters were fleeing the political heat at home.
Both sisters posted messages Friday saying they were in London and would return soon.