Thailand’s Thaksin will return from exile on August 10, says daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra
- The 74-year-old is a bogeyman for Thailand’s pro-military and royalist establishment and his return could inflame an already tense political situation
- Twice elected PM but ousted by a military coup in 2006, Thaksin has long spoken of his wish to come home – but faces multiple criminal charges
The 74-year-old tycoon, twice elected prime minister but ousted by a military coup in 2006, has long spoken of his wish to come home, but faces multiple criminal charges – which he says are politically motivated.
“I can’t believe what I am about to write. Dad is coming back on Aug 10 at Don Meung airport,” his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra wrote on her official Facebook page on Wednesday – Thaksin’s birthday.
Paetongtarn was a prime ministerial candidate for the Pheu Thai party, which came second in the election and is now trying to form a government after the Move Forward Party was blocked.
“My heart and everyone in our family feel overwhelmed, happy and worried, but we respect dad’s decision,” she wrote.
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Thaksin was convicted in absentia on corruption charges in 2008 – and has since faced numerous other cases – but said in May he was ready to face the courts.
Parties linked to Thaksin have dominated Thai politics since 2001, but lost two prime ministers to military coups and another to a court ruling.