Ousted Thai PM resigns as party leader

BANGKOK: Thailand's deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned as leader of his Thai Rak Thai political party, a top party official said on Tuesday.

"I must resign because of the new environment. I have to do this to keep the party alive," Thaksin said in a letter read out by the official at a press conference.

"I would like to thank everyone, including the party committee and all the staff for building our party and making it strong enough to become a party for the people, with more than 14 million members who had confidence in us to form a government for two terms," the letter said.

The party official, Pongthep Thepkanjana, told reporters that the letter was dated October 2 and sent from London, where Thaksin has been living since the military ousted him in a bloodless coup two weeks ago.