Thaksin Shinawatra has sought a temporary injunction against the revenue department to prevent it from seizing his assets to pay the bill. (EPA Images pic)

BANGKOK: Ex-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra told a court on Wednesday that his life could be in danger if authorities seize assets, including bullet-proof vehicles as part of a US$500 million, decades-old tax dispute.

The Supreme Court's Tax Division last November upheld a tax claim by the revenue department against the former prime minister – one of Thailand's richest people – over the 2006 sale of his telecoms firm.

Thaksin has sought a temporary injunction against the revenue department to stop it from seizing his assets to pay the bill, which his lawyer Winyat Chatmontree told AFP was worth more than 17 billion baht ($504 million).