Thai ex-PM Thaksin visits home city after jail release
Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited his home city in the Southeast Asian kingdom’s north on Thursday as he made his first public appearances since being released early from a jail sentence for graft and abuse of power.
The controversial billionaire, twice elected premier and ousted in a 2006 coup, prayed at the Bangkok City Pillar Shrine before flying by private jet to Chiang Mai for a three-day trip.
After landing in Chiang Mai — his home city and traditional political power base — at about 9:40 a.m. (local time), he was greeted by his younger sister and her husband before heading to a park and greeting supporters.
“Seventeen years I’ve been waiting for him,” Samniang Kongpolparn, who traveled from northeastern Surin province, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the park.
Alongside him was Bangkok taxi driver Paisal, who had journeyed to see the former politician he called “the PM of my heart.”
While in the north, Thaksin will meet family and supporters and pray at the graves of his relatives.
Earlier, scores of media camped out in front of the Bangkok shrine where Thaksin, wearing a blue shirt and a neck brace, prayed from about 5 a.m.
He was accompanied by his daughter Paetongtarn, now head of his Pheu Thai party, and her husband.
Health issues
Thaksin, 74, returned to the kingdom last August after 15 years of self-exile, and was immediately jailed for eight years on charges dating back to his time in power.
But his sentence was cut to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn within days of his return, and last month the government said Thaksin was eligible for early release because of his age and poor health.
Former Manchester City owner’s return to Thailand came shortly after Pheu Thai took power at the head of a coalition government that includes parties close to his old foes in the military.
The timing of his return led many to conclude a backroom deal had been struck to cut his jail time, a suggestion denied by the Pheu Thai-led government.
Ramet Rattanachaweng, spokesman for the royalist Democrat party, said the public would be watching closely to see if Thaksin is being given special treatment.
“He is on parole. If he gets something beyond regular regulations, the probation andcorrections departments will have to explain themselves,” Ramet said.
Possible PM meeting
Thaksin is widely seen as still wielding great influence with Pheu Thai, and on his release last month, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said “everyone in the government is ready to listen” to the veteran leader.
Srettha is due to visit Chiang Mai from Friday on his return from official visits to Germany and France, and told reporters in the French capital Paris he would meet Thaksin “if opportunity and time allow,” Thai Public Broadcasting Service reported.
Pheu Thai spokesman Danuporn Punnakanta on Tuesday urged the party’s members of parliament not to go and see Thaksin, saying they should be in Bangkok for Thursday’s parliament session.
Thaksin is one of the most influential but divisive figures in modern Thai history.
A former police officer turned telecommunications tycoon, he is still loved by millions of rural Thais for his populist policies in the early 2000s, but has long been opposed by the country’s royalist and pro-military establishment.