26-7-2023 (BANGKOK) Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is currently in self-imposed exile, plans to return to the country on August 10, according to a statement made by his daughter on Wednesday. The announcement comes amid a prolonged political crisis following the May general election.
“I don’t quite believe what I am typing, dad is returning on Aug 10 at Don Muang Airport,” Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a social media post, referring to an airport in the capital city of Bangkok.
Thaksin, 74, made a fortune in the telecommunications business and served as prime minister from 2001 until he was ousted in a 2006 coup. He fled Thailand in 2008 to avoid a jail sentence for corruption and has been living in exile ever since.
Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party, which is backed by the former prime minister, is currently trying to form a government in Thailand after coming second in the May 14 general election.
The election winner, Move Forward party, has said that it will let Pheu Thai lead the formation of a government after its prime ministerial candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, failed to secure parliament’s backing for the top job. Pita faced tough resistance from conservative opponents and appointed senators due to his party’s liberal agenda.
Pheu Thai has yet to formally name its candidate for prime minister, but property tycoon Srettha Thavisin, one of the party’s three PM candidates during the election campaign, is expected to be put forward for the job when the next vote comes.
However, the party is facing difficult decisions about its eight-party coalition, with conservative forces refusing to support any government that includes the Move Forward Party.
