More than eight months before an economic crisis and mass protests prompted him to flee Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa presented his national statement during the World Leaders’ Summit at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain November 1, 2021. Andy Buchanan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Sri Lanka’s ousted president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is expected to arrive in Thailand on Thursday, seeking temporary shelter in a second Southeast Asian country after fleeing his island nation last month amid mass protests, two sources said.
Rajapaksa flew to Singapore on July 14, via the Maldives, following unprecedented unrest triggered by Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in seven decades and days after thousands of protesters stormed the president’s official residence and office.
The retired military officer then resigned from the presidency, becoming the first Sri Lankan president to quit mid-term.