Thai police confirmed on Friday that a photo taken in London of fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was authentic.
Yingluck fled Thailand in August a month before being convicted of criminal negligence over a failed rice subsidy scheme.
The Supreme Court sentenced her to five years in prison in absentia over the rice scheme, which allegedly led to the loss of $8bn of public money.
Her escape shocked Thailand. The United Arab Emirates later confirmed her entry into Dubai before her departure for another country.
A photo of Yingluck and another Thai woman standing in front of what is believed to be the high-class Harrods department store in London was posted by Andrew MagGregor Marshall, a prominent critic of the Thai junta, on his Facebook page late Thursday.
"According to forensics, it is highly unlikely the photo was doctored," Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, deputy national police chief, told a press conference.
"We have already asked Interpol to issue an alert for her location. We will also search for the woman in the picture for information," Srivara added.
The photo posted on Thursday was the third such photo that showed Yingluck is likely to be in the British capital.
Two other photos taken on December 26 showed the fugitive ex-premier inside a Westfield shopping mall in London's Shepherd's Bush district.
Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra, another former prime minister, is also living in exile after he was ousted in a 2006 coup.
Yingluck Shinawatra fled Thailand in August last year.
