Sri Lanka ex-leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeks entry into Thailand | Protests News

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled Sri Lanka amid mass protests, requests entry into Thailand after weeks in Singapore.

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has requested entry into Thailand for a temporary stay in a second Southeast Asian country after fleeing his island nation last month amid mass protests, the Thai foreign ministry has said.

Rajapaksa fled to Singapore on July 14 following widespread demonstrations over Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in seven decades, and days after thousands of protesters stormed the president’s official residence and office over acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

He then resigned from the presidency, becoming the first Sri Lankan head of state to quit mid-term.

Rajapaksa is expected to leave Singapore and head to Thailand’s capital Bangkok on Thursday, the Reuters news agency reported, citing two sources who…