Premier Ewart Brown has stamped on bizarre, untrue claims in Asian media that he has offered refuge to Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled former prime minister of Thailand.

Newspapers in Thaksin's home country have been speculating where the billionaire, who was ousted from power in a 2006 coup, may head after his British visa was revoked.

Some Thai press reports claim Bermuda is one of the countries to have offered sanctuary to the 59-year-old former owner of Manchester City football club. AsiaOne News stated last week: "The Bermuda Islands, a 53.3 square-kilometre British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic, was the first to offer Thaksin refuge after he fled Thailand in August.

"Its prime minister said he was content to help Thaksin because his family used to face injustice of the legal system before (sic)."

The Associated Press reported yesterday: "There has been speculation in the Thai press that Thaksin might seek to settle in the Bahamas or Bermuda."

Dr. Brown told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the reports were totally fabricated.

"I know nothing about it," he said. "It's absolutely not true."

The Times newspaper in the UK said unconfirmed reports suggested Thaksin and his wife had been granted honorary citizenship by the Bahamas.