Thai parliament to vote on new PM, as Thaksin jets off amid chaos

By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Martin Petty

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s parliament was set to choose a new prime minister on Friday, after days of political chaos, in a vote that could be overshadowed by the dramatic departure from the country of its most powerful politician Thaksin Shinawatra.

Polarising billionaire Thaksin, the central figure in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power in Thailand, left on his private jet for Dubai late on Thursday, with his family’s ruling party Pheu Thai in…