Gotabaya Rajapaksa Leaves Singapore for Thailand as Ex-Sri Lanka Leader 'Runs Out of Asylum Options'

Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to Singapore via the Maldives last month after thousands of protesters stormed the President's House and Secretariat, demanding his resignation over financial mismanagement. Gotabaya resigned from his post on July 15, paving the way for Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a new government in the island nation.

Ousted Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reached Thailand on Thursday after his short-term visit pass provided by Singapore expired, the Straits Times reported. Rajapaksa boarded a flight from Singapore on Thursday morning for Bangkok.

On Wednesday, Thailand's foreign ministry confirmed that it had received a request from the current Sri Lankan government for Gotabaya's plan to visit Bangkok.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha granted the 73-year-old politician permission to stay temporarily as the Sri Lankan had promised not to carry out political activities from the Southeast Asian nation.

"This is a humanitarian issue and there is an agreement that it's a temporary stay," the Thai Prime Minister told reporters.

Rajapaksa can stay in Thailand for 90 days on his diplomatic passport.

The Daily Mirror, citing Sri Lankan government sources, claimed that Rajapaksa would return home by November after he ran out of options to receive temporary shelter in other countries.

The former military officer, who played a crucial role in eliminating the Tamil insurgency from the island nation, has not made public appearances since leaving Sri Lanka on July 14.

Rajapaksa resigned from office following unprecedented unrest over his government's handling of the foreign exchange crisis, resulting in severe food and fuel shortages in the country of 22 million people.

Protesters and current president Ranil Wickremesinghe blamed the previous government for the economic crisis.