PM echoes Thaksin over Yingluck homecoming

Former premier Yingluck Shinawatra and others convicted for political reasons can return home on condition they strictly abide by the law, says Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

“I support all of them entering the legal process and [would] welcome them to Thailand,” the prime minister said in the resort town of Hua Hun, where he and his family are spending the Songkran break. “All people convicted for political reasons want to return to their homeland,” he added.

He was reacting to remarks by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who said he hoped to see his younger sister return to Thailand this year. Thaksin is in the northern province of Chiang Mai for Thai New Year activities, while Yingluck spent the holiday in London, where her son studies. “This is a good sign,” Mr Srettha said of Thaksin’s remarks. “The country will move forward” after all political prisoners return from their exile overseas, he said.

Yingluck has not made any public comments since her brother’s remark, but her supporters said they were looking forward to her coming back. “Return justice to Yingluck

Shinawatra so she can come back to Thailand,” one commenter said.

But former Nakhon Si Thammarat MP Thepthai Senpong, a Thaksin opponent, said the former prime minister’s remarks underscore his position as the genuine centre of power in the Pheu Thai Party and government. Many politicians have been lobbying Thaksin amid speculation about a cabinet reshuffle, he said. “The return of Ms Yingluck depends on Mr Thaksin alone,” the outspoken southern politician said. “The government is only a facilitator and follows his instructions.”

One recent returnee from exile overseas is Jakrapob Penkair, a former politician who served as a MP and former spokesman for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from 2003 to 2005.