After a decade-and-a-half of self-imposed exile after he was ousted by a military coup and sentenced to prison on corruption charges, Thaksin returns to serve out sentence
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra landed in Thailand on Tuesday, ending a decade-and-a-half of self-imposed exile after he was ousted by a military coup and sentenced to prison on corruption charges.
Police arrested the 74-year-old fugitive and escorted him to the Supreme Court and then to prison, where he has begun serving an eight-year sentence he received in absentia. Pardons for those over 70 are common in Thailand, however, and there is widespread speculation Mr. Thaksin’s highly choreographed return indicated some kind of deal has been cut with the country’s military rulers.
The willingness of Mr. Thaksin’s party to deal with the military has enraged many voters, sparking protests and causing some shops to refuse to sell a chocolate-mint ice drink favoured by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Mr. Thaksin’s daughter, who led Pheu Thai’s election campaign. A poll by the National Institute for Development Administration found around 64 per cent of respondents disagreed with the idea of allying with military-backed parties.
That Tuesday’s vote coincided with Mr. Thaksin’s return will only renew suspicion Pheu Thai’s priorities are driven by its former leader and could speed up a shift among pro-democracy voters towards Move Forward, which will now sit in parliament as the largest opposition party. Despite this, Mr. Thaksin remained a dominant force in Thai politics, with his sister Yingluck Shinawatra becoming prime minister in 2011. Three years later, however, she too was ousted by a military junta, which led the country until 2019, when it began a partial return to democracy.
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