Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is reported to have divorced his wife Khunying Potjaman, in a move that has shocked many of the couple's friends and colleagues.

Thaksin told People Power party (PPP) MPs at a dinner in Hong Kong last night that his 32-year marriage had ended.

"We divorced in order to make everybody feel comfortable," a PPP MP, who was at the dinner, quoted Thaksin as saying.

The divorce was sealed at 11.00am yesterday at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong, the source said.

Thaksin's announcement shocked everyone at the table which became suddenly silent, said the MP, who declined to be named. Khunying Potjaman was not at the dinner, he added.

A high-ranking government source confirmed the couple had signed the divorce papers at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong.

The divorce took place less than a month after the Supreme Court sentenced Thaksin to two years in jail and acquitted Khunying Potjaman over conflict of interest charges in the Ratchadiphisek land deal case.

The prison sentence is alleged to have prompted the UK to cancel entry visas for Thaksin and his wife.

A political observer said the divorce could be legally motivated to protect the couple's assets, which are mostly held in the name of Khunying Potjaman.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission revealed last year that Thaksin officially declared assets worth 614.39 million baht when he took office, while Khunying Potjaman had 8.48 billion baht.

Thaksin and Khunying Potjaman married in 1976 and have three children.

The family often appeared in public together, even after Thaksin was ousted in a coup and went into self-exile in London before his and Khunying Potjaman's visas were revoked.

During his controversial phone-in speech to supporters at Rajamangala stadium on Nov 1, Thaksin lamented that his family had been torn apart after the Sept 19 coup.

Thaksin reportedly flew to Dubai last night after the dinner with the PPP MPs, who went to Hong Kong to meet Thaksin, who arrived from Beijing on Tuesday.

The group included Yaowapa Wongsawat, his younger sister and wife of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, her close aide Yongyuth Tiyapairat and former Thai Rak Thai executive Newin Chidchob. Veera Musikhapong and Chatuporn Promphan, hosts of the Kwam Jing Wan Nee (Truth Today), were also seen in Hong Kong yesterday.

A PPP source said the former prime minister chose Dubai because the UAE has no extradition treaty with Thailand.

The source said Thaksin told his associates he would use "all means" to fight his political enemies, whom he blamed for his political downfall and the two-year jail sentence imposed by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.

Thaksin blamed a group of "privileged elites" including retired army generals, said the source