KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — What was meant to be a straightforward medical trip abroad for former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra turned into an unexpected detour, with his private jet landing in Dubai after missing Singapore’s airport hours.

The 76-year-old billionaire left Bangkok on Thursday night bound for Singapore, where he said he planned to see the doctor who had treated him during his years overseas.

But delays at Immigration, which he claimed lasted “almost two hours”, meant his aircraft missed Seletar Airport’s 10pm closing time yesterday.

“I intended to travel to Singapore to have a health check with the doctor who took care of me while I was abroad,” Thaksin wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

“Since I couldn’t land in Singapore, I decided to have the pilot change my plans to Dubai.”

Seletar Airport, which serves private jets, operates daily from 7am to 10pm. 

Thaksin said the hold-up by Immigration officers — despite his insistence that he has “...