Senior Thai officials say the government is seeking the extradition from the UK of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled her country last year ahead of a conviction on a charge of negligence in overseeing a money-losing rice subsidy program.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha confirmed the news to journalists on Tuesday when asked about a report by the Thai-language service of the BBC that an official request had been given to the British government.

He and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai both described the action as a standard procedure that went through legal channels, rather than a political matter.

Yingluck was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Her government was ousted in a 2014 military coup led by Prayuth, who was then army commander.