Thai court orders ex-PM Thaksin to pay $500 mn tax bill: reports

Thailand's Supreme Court ordered jailed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday to pay back taxes over the sale of his telecoms firm, the judiciary said, with reports putting the sum due at around half a billion dollars. On Monday, the Supreme Court overruled an appeals court decision in the tax case, forcing Thaksin to follow the order by the Revenue Department to pay tax, court spokesman Suriyan Hongvilai told AFP. Suriyan did not provide the specific sum to be paid nor the court's reasoning for its ruling.