Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra waving to supporters upon arrival at Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand on the morning of the 22nd / Reuters News 1
Thaksin Shinawatra, 74, former Prime Minister of Thailand, returned to Thailand on the 22nd after living abroad for 15 years.
According to CNN, former Prime Minister Thaksin Thaksin arrived at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport on a private plane at 9:00 am (local time). Thaksin, who exited the airport terminal around 9:25 a.m., reportedly waved goodbye to his supporters and bowed to a portrait of the King of Thailand. After greeting the welcoming crowd for about three minutes, Thaksin went back into the airport building. Thaksin will head to the Supreme Court at 10:30 just after his return, where he will be sentenced to a sentence he did not receive due to his exile.
Thaksin is the head of the Thaksin family, which has divided the military and Thai politics for over 20 years, and is also called the ‘spiritual support of the Thai people’. Prior to her, Thaksin’s youngest daughter and leader of the Ph’athai Party, which is in charge of electing the next Thai prime minister, Pa Thongtan Chinawat, announced her father’s return on social media.
Supporters welcome the return of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in front of Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on the 22nd (local time). /EPA Yonhap News
Thaksin, who served as Prime Minister since 2001, was overthrown in a military coup in 2006 and briefly returned to Korea in 2008, then lived in exile in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Previously, Patongtan and Thaksin had disclosed the schedule for Thaksin’s return to Korea on two occasions, but both failed due to political confusion surrounding the election of the prime minister. In the midst of this, on the 22nd, when the Prime Minister candidate nominated by the P-A-Thai Party and the military coalition party was elected, Patongtan reiterated that his father would return home.
The reason Thaksin lived in exile was because he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for four counts of corruption, including illegally approving Myanmar loans (借款‧ loans between governments or companies) and illegally holding stocks in telecommunications companies. When Pat Tongtan revealed the schedule for his father’s return, Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Justice Wisanu Krea Ngam said, “(Thaksin) will undergo a physical examination and be imprisoned at Klong Prem Central Prison in Bangkok when he returns home.” He has to serve 10 years in prison, excluding the two-year sentence for the alleged purchase of state land in Bangkok by his ex-wife, whose statute of limitations has expired.
Supporters welcome the return of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in front of Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on the 22nd (local time). /Reuters Yonhap News
However, local media speculate that Thaksin’s return was due to the expectation that some degree of agreement was reached with the Thai military over his pardon. The Bangkok Post said, “Thaksin will immediately ask for a royal pardon, and if there is no assurance (of the pardon), he will not return home.”
The background of rising expectations for amnesty is the formation of a coalition between the Phua Thai Party, which is called Thaksin family’s party, and the military. On the 17th, the United Thailand National Party, led by Prime Minister Prayut Chin-Ocha, announced that it would “participate in a coalition led by the Phua Thai Party,” and the coalition became a fait accompli. Thaksin’s prison sentence is pardoned in exchange for allowing the Phua Thai party to continue in power through a coalition with the military. Thailand’s parliament is scheduled to hold a joint vote of the upper and lower houses to elect the next prime minister this afternoon. Currently, the Phua Thai Party plans to nominate former Prime Minister Thaksin Thaksin’s aide and real estate tycoon Sretha Thawisin as prime minister in a joint vote of the House and Senate on the 22nd.
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2023-08-22 03:11:15
