"I thought I would be able to prove my innocence and receive justice, which is why I returned to Thailand on Feb. 28. But the situation has deteriorated," Thaksin said in a three-page handwritten statement that was read on state-run television and faxed to media outlets.

Thaksin, 59, faces a slew of court cases and investigations into alleged corruption and abuse of power during his five years in office. In his statement, he insisted he was innocent of all the accusations.

He also said there had been threats on his life. "I have also constantly received news that my life is not safe. Wherever I travel, I have to use bulletproof cars. This is the result I got from having volunteered to serve the country, the king and the people," he said.

Still, Thaksin said, he hoped to someday "come back and die on the Thai soil like every other Thai person."

Thaksin's comments drew criticism from the supreme commander of the military, which plays an active role in political affairs.

"Such remarks by the former leader could damage the country's image in its suggestion that we have an unjust judicial system," said Boonsang Niempradit. "Thailand remains a good country with a great amount of justice."

Thai prosecutors said they were discussing the possibility of asking for Thaksin's extradition.

A British Home Office spokeswoman said it would not comment on individual immigration cases. Speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with government policy, she said a criminal indictment in another country "wouldn't necessarily affect someone's immigration status."

Thaksin's lawyers and spokesmen did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

In addition to issuing arrest warrants for Thaksin and his wife, the Supreme Court ordered them to forfeit bail totaling $389,000.

Thaksin's supporters say the courts are carrying out a vendetta against him on behalf of his opponents, while his critics say they are just exercising their independent role.

On July 31, the criminal court convicted his wife of evading millions of dollars in taxes and sentenced her to three years in prison. She was released on bail.

Monday's Supreme Court hearing involved charges of abuse of authority and corruption in connection with Pojaman's 2003 purchase of a valuable plot of land in Bangkok at a favorable price from a state agency. The court earlier said it would deliver a verdict Sept. 16.

Three other cases against Thaksin have gone to court, and many others are under investigation. Thai authorities also have frozen more than $2 billion of his family's assets pending the corruption cases against him.

The telecommunications billionaire-turned-politician had led his party to landslide election victories in 2001 and 2005, using populist policies to appeal to Thailand's rural majority and urban poor.

But his growing power and autocratic style antagonized the country's traditional power holders, bureaucrats, big business and people associated with the monarchy, which is the country's most influential institution.

In 2006 he began to facing growing allegations that he used the prime minister's office to enrich himself and his family. The charges sparked confrontational anti-Thaksin protests and eventually a political standoff that led to the coup.

After Thaksin's 2006 ouster, his Thai Rak Thai Party was disbanded by court order and he and more than 100 of the party's executive barred from political office for five years. But his allies assembled in a new party that came out top in a December 2007 general election to lead a new government.

The installation of a new, sympathetic regime paved the way for Thaksin's return home. He vowed at the time to have retired from politics, but his opponents accused him of pulling the strings behind Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's new government.