Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in Bangkok on Thursday that Japan has banned ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from entering its country as he is a fugitive.

Speaking to local media before departing to Japan for a three-day official visit, Abhisit did not say when Japan decided to blacklist Thaksin.

"I already received reports that Japan has decided to ban Thaksin from entering the country," The website by The Nation newspaper quoted Abhisit as saying.

Thaksin was ousted by Military coup in September 2006, accusing him of corruption, keeping him in exile and controlling the country for an interim period until new elections in Dec. 2007 did bring Thaksin's allies back into power.

Thaksin returned to Thailand in Feb. 2008 to face corruption charges, but he later fled into exile again and was convicted for two years in absentia.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2009)