Thailand’s divisive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the dominion Tuesday, after 15 years in exile and hours earlier than parliament votes for a brand new prime minister.
The billionaire landed in a non-public jet at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 9 am (0200 GMT), to be greeted by lots of of noisy “Pink Shirt” supporters waving banners and singing songs.
Thaksin emerged briefly from the terminal constructing to bow and provide a floral garland at a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a mark of respect earlier than waving to supporters.
The previous Manchester Metropolis proprietor was led away by officers to face arrest on outdated prison instances, within the newest act within the kingdom’s rolling political drama.
Lawmakers will vote within the afternoon to put in enterprise tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister on the head of a coalition led by the Pheu Thai celebration — the newest incarnation of Thaksin’s political motion.
Earlier, a Fb video posted by his sister Yingluck — like Thaksin, ousted from energy by Thailand’s generals — confirmed the 74-year-old shaking palms with the crew as he boarded his jet in Singapore.
“The day you’re ready for is lastly come,” Yingluck wrote.
– Crimson supporters –
A day that started with a non-public jet for Thaksin will seemingly finish in a jail cell — yet one more dramatic shift in a switchback profession that has included two election victories, defeat in a coup, prison expenses and lengthy years of self-imposed exile.
Thaksin has stated he’s ready to face justice with the intention to return to his homeland and see his grandchildren — although he has lengthy maintained the prison expenses in opposition to him are politically motivated.
“I wish to request permission to return to reside on Thai soil and share the air with my fellow Thai brothers and sisters,” he posted on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X, on Monday.
On the airport, lots of of supporters from the “Pink Shirt” motion loyal to Thaksin gathered singing songs and waving banners — most decked out of their ordinary crimson colors.
“I’m an actual Pink Shirt — at any time when they need our help, I’ll at all times be there for them,” Karuna Wantang, 70, a retired bureaucrat from Nongkai, within the nation’s northeast, advised AFP.
“I do not solely like him however I really like him.”
Thaksin has been convicted in 4 prison instances in his absence, though the statute of limitations has expired in a single. The jail sentences in opposition to him complete 10 years.
From the airport, he can be taken to the Supreme Court docket, issued with a jail warrant and put in detention.
Lots of extra Pink Shirts lined the route he’s anticipated to take.
It’s unclear how lengthy Thaksin may serve in jail. His associates hope he could also be moved to deal with arrest after a quick incarceration, though there aren’t any ensures.
For all his lengthy absence from the nation, Thaksin stays Thailand’s most influential — and controversial — politician of recent occasions.
Liked by the agricultural poor for insurance policies together with low cost healthcare and the minimal wage, he’s reviled by the pro-military and royalist elite who noticed his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and a menace to Thai social order.
Events linked to Thaksin have dominated elections since 2001 — till this yr, when the progressive Transfer Ahead Celebration (MFP) received essentially the most seats.
– PM vote –
However MFP’s chief Pita Limjaroenrat noticed his bid to grow to be PM dashed on the rocks of bitter opposition from conservative junta-appointed senators spooked by his dedication to reform royal insult legal guidelines and sort out enterprise monopolies.
Whereas celebration patriarch Thaksin is being processed by the courts, Pheu Thai MPs can be getting ready for the vote for a first-rate minister, anticipated round 3 pm.
The celebration is assured of getting Srettha permitted in a joint vote by each homes, after gaining one other 40 seats for its coalition on Monday with the addition of the army-linked Palang Pracharath Celebration (PPRP).
It takes their controversial grouping — together with military-backed United Thai Nation, the previous celebration of 2014 coup-maker Prayut Chan-o-cha — to 314 decrease home seats.
Following MFP’s exclusion from the primary coalition, Pheu Thai’s offers with army-linked events have enraged supporters who voted overwhelmingly in opposition to military-backed rule in Might.
bur-pdw/qan
Initially printed as Ex-PM Thaksin returns to Thailand after 15 years in exile
