https://www.scmp.com/rss/248038/feed The latest news on Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai businesswoman, politician, member of the Pheu Thai Party and former Prime Minister of Thailand, including politics news. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters Thailand’s influential former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived back in the country on Monday, his political party said, a day before a Supreme Court verdict that could potentially send the tycoon to prison. Thaksin left Thailand unannounced on Thursday, prompting frenzied speculation he had fled into exile to avoid possible jail amid a scramble for power. On Friday, the government led by the Pheu Thai party he backs fell after it lost a vote in parliament to a rival party. “He has... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3324709/thailands-thaksin-flies-singapore-all-set-return-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3324709/thailands-thaksin-flies-singapore-all-set-return-bangkok?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 05:37:37 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Thailand’s Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office for breaching ethics later on Friday, a ruling that threatens the survival of her family’s political dynasty and could unleash fresh chaos on the turbulent kingdom. It is another make or break day in court for the Shinawatra family, which has been hugely influential in Thai politics for over two decades, but has faced coups and court rulings driven by the conservative... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3323505/make-or-break-time-thailands-shinawatra-clan-paetongtarn-faces-removal-office?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3323505/make-or-break-time-thailands-shinawatra-clan-paetongtarn-faces-removal-office?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was cleared on Friday of royal defamation charges, relieving one of the threats to his embattled dynasty, which has dominated Thai politics for two decades. Thaksin’s family has long jousted with the nation’s pro-military, pro-monarchy elite, who view their populist movement as a threat to Thailand’s traditional social order. Their tenure as a defining force in Thai politics has unfolded in a saga of coups, street protests and court cases as they... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3322797/thai-ex-pm-thaksin-cleared-royal-insult-charges-political-dynastys-future-uncertain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3322797/thai-ex-pm-thaksin-cleared-royal-insult-charges-political-dynastys-future-uncertain?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 08:10:28 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow The suspension of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has reignited debate over the Constitutional Court’s growing influence in Thailand’s democratic system, amid concerns electoral mandates risk being curtailed by judicial and conservative power centres. While the court’s decision on Tuesday to suspend Paetongtarn over a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen was framed as a procedural response to an ethics complaint, observers say it fits into a broader trend of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317024/how-powerful-thailands-constitutional-court-pms-suspension-reignites-influence-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317024/how-powerful-thailands-constitutional-court-pms-suspension-reignites-influence-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jul 2025 12:34:37 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thailand’s billionaire Shinawatra dynasty has dominated the kingdom’s politics for 25 years, but its rule has been hit by coups and court cases – including this week’s suspension of the prime minister. Thaksin Shinawatra amassed a telecoms fortune before driving the family’s entry into politics, elected to power in 2001 and again in 2005, when he led the first Thai party ever to secure an overall majority alone. His populist policies won the devotion of rural voters but the ire of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3316572/thailands-dynasty-distress-shinawatras-quarter-century-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3316572/thailands-dynasty-distress-shinawatras-quarter-century-power?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Jul 2025 02:38:07 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen has launched a flurry of personal attacks on Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in what analysts say is an attempt to deflect international scrutiny over Cambodia’s role in regional scam operations while amplifying the political turmoil in Bangkok and consolidating his domestic political support. In a heated live stream on Friday, Hun Sen accused Paetongtarn of insulting the Thai king and threatened to reveal damaging information about her politically... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3316366/why-paetongtarns-uncle-hun-sen-attacking-her-amid-thai-cambodian-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3316366/why-paetongtarns-uncle-hun-sen-attacking-her-amid-thai-cambodian-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Jun 2025 09:30:12 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Thousands rallied in Thailand’s capital on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, part of the brewing political turmoil set off by a leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Paetongtarn faces growing dissatisfaction over her handling of a recent border dispute with Cambodia involving an armed confrontation on May 28. One Cambodian soldier was killed in a relatively small, contested area. The recorded phone call with Hun Sen was at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3316198/thai-yellow-shirts-return-demand-paetongtarns-removal-after-leaked-hun-sen-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3316198/thai-yellow-shirts-return-demand-paetongtarns-removal-after-leaked-hun-sen-call?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Jun 2025 05:02:00 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Thailand’s besieged Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra scrambled on Saturday to shore up her wobbling coalition after a leaked phone call drove defections from her government and rekindled resentments against her family, threatening to end her time in office after less than a year. Compounding her woes, Paetongtarn is set to face a court challenge from Thai senators and planned street protests demanding her ouster. Thailand’s youngest ever leader at 38 and the daughter of divisive two-time... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3315331/thailands-pm-digs-defections-and-legal-challenge-threaten-her-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3315331/thailands-pm-digs-defections-and-legal-challenge-threaten-her-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jun 2025 08:44:57 +0000 Aidan Jones,Reuters Aidan Jones,Reuters Tensions along the Thailand-Cambodia border escalated on Friday, more than a week after a deadly frontier clash, with the Thai army warning of its readiness to launch a “high-level operation” and nationalists accusing the government of Paetongtarn Shinawatra of being too friendly with Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet. Cambodia has said it will go to the World Court (ICJ) to help resolve a dispute over the so-called Emerald Triangle boundary, after a firefight with Thai troops last week that... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3313311/thai-military-ups-ante-cambodia-border-row-says-its-ready-high-level-operation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3313311/thai-military-ups-ante-cambodia-border-row-says-its-ready-high-level-operation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jun 2025 05:22:10 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Cooking oil, rice and fertiliser were the first purchases made by 74-year-old Sopak Ruangsang with her 10,000 baht (US$300) cash subsidy, one of the 14.5 million poorest people in Thailand to benefit from an initial round of the kingdom’s biggest ever direct handout. Sopak next paid down debts and helped neighbours in her close-knit community in Isaan region who did not qualify for the cash handout this time around. “After that, I helped pay for my grandchildren’s school fees and that’s pretty... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3281106/thailands-poorest-hail-costly-cash-handout-scheme-we-can-breathe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3281106/thailands-poorest-hail-costly-cash-handout-scheme-we-can-breathe?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Oct 2024 09:26:14 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Thailand’s decision to press ahead with a land bridge project this week despite political and environmental concerns underscores an urgency by the Southeast Asian nation to propel economic growth and shore up the government’s popularity, according to observers. Experts say the focus on the land bridge reflects the ruling Shinawatra family’s “penchant for grandiose infrastructure projects”, but the move also raises questions about the development’s long-term feasibility. Thailand’s transport... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3277536/thailand-desperate-land-bridge-project-boost-growth-could-face-roadblocks-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3277536/thailand-desperate-land-bridge-project-boost-growth-could-face-roadblocks-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:00:40 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Proud father to Thailand’s youngest-ever prime minister, a billionaire returned from the wilderness to the top of Thai power, and a one-time electoral star writing a sequel to one of Southeast Asia’s most remarkable modern political sagas – at the ripe old age of 75, Thaksin Shinawatra is back. He’s been pardoned from the convictions that drove him into 15 years of self-exile, with a third person bearing his surname – his daughter Paetongtarn – in the prime minister’s office. But experts warn... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275669/back-square-one-thailand-confronts-ghosts-its-past-shinawatra-restoration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3275669/back-square-one-thailand-confronts-ghosts-its-past-shinawatra-restoration?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2024 04:30:10 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow The appointment of Paetongtarn Shinawatra – a politically inexperienced novice – as Thailand’s new prime minister will mean that she will remain under the tutelage and in the “shadow” of her father, former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who will “hold sway” over policymaking, analysts have said. On Friday, Thailand’s parliament voted the 37-year-old Paetongtarn to be the country’s next prime minister after the ruling Pheu Thai party nominated her to replace dismissed leader Srettha Thavisin. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3274786/puppet-her-dad-thailands-new-pm-paetongtarn-remain-thaksins-shadow-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3274786/puppet-her-dad-thailands-new-pm-paetongtarn-remain-thaksins-shadow-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Aug 2024 09:30:20 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s divisive two-time former prime minister, will be indicted for royal defamation over media comments made nearly a decade ago, a potential sign of a conservative backlash against a government dominated by his loyalists. The 74-year-old billionaire, the nation’s most influential politician over the last two decades, faces the kingdom’s tough lese-majeste law, which shields the powerful monarchy from criticism, over an allegation that he defamed the monarchy in an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3264528/thailands-ex-pm-thaksin-face-trial-royal-defamation-amid-conservative-backlash-against-his-influence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3264528/thailands-ex-pm-thaksin-face-trial-royal-defamation-amid-conservative-backlash-against-his-influence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 May 2024 06:51:03 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones The decision by Thailand’s Constitutional Court to launch an ethics probe into Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, which could see him removed from office over a disputed cabinet appointment, is a “show of force” from old powers accustomed to leveraging the judiciary against civilian administrations, experts say. The petition against Srettha, accepted by the court on Thursday, was filed by forty conservative senators from the outgoing upper house over his appointment of Pichit Chuenban as minister... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3263950/ethics-probe-thai-pm-srettha-show-force-countrys-old-powers-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3263950/ethics-probe-thai-pm-srettha-show-force-countrys-old-powers-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 May 2024 07:22:50 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones The parole of ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is proving as divisive as his time in power, with critics on the left and right of Thai politics saying justice has not been served by the release of a man who has turned the wheels of the kingdom’s chaotic politics more than any other figure over the last 20 years. The 74-year-old’s circuitous journey from a political star and champion of the poor to a fugitive nemesis of the elite – and now an elderly returnee to Thailand allowed to live at... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3252442/thaksins-parole-stirs-anger-thailand-double-standards-across-political-spectrum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3252442/thaksins-parole-stirs-anger-thailand-double-standards-across-political-spectrum?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:00:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Jailed former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be freed on Sunday, the kingdom’s prime minister has said, just six months after returning from 15 years of self-imposed exile. The controversial billionaire, twice elected prime minister and ousted in a 2006 military coup, was jailed for eight years on graft and abuse-of-power charges upon his return to Thailand in August, but within days had his sentence cut to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Speaking to reporters on Saturday... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3252267/jailed-ex-thai-leader-thaksin-be-released-sunday-pm-srettha-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3252267/jailed-ex-thai-leader-thaksin-be-released-sunday-pm-srettha-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Feb 2024 03:49:31 +0000 Agence France-Presse,Reuters Agence France-Presse,Reuters Thai police have charged former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with lèse-majesté over comments he made almost a decade ago, officials said on Tuesday, though it is not clear if the case will go to court. Thailand has some of the world’s strictest royal defamation laws protecting King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family, with each charge bringing a potential 15-year prison sentence. The constitution states the king must be held in a position of “revered worship”. Thai king reduces former... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3251126/former-thai-pm-thaksin-shinawatra-charged-royal-insult?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3251126/former-thai-pm-thaksin-shinawatra-charged-royal-insult?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:00:12 +0000 Reuters Reuters Thailand’s jailed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra qualifies for release on parole next month due to his age and health, a corrections department official said on Wednesday. Billionaire Thaksin, 74, was hospitalised with high blood pressure and chest tightness within hours of his dramatic return to Thailand in August from 15 years of self-imposed exile to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power. His sentence was commuted to a year following a royal pardon. ‘Most popular’ Thaksin... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3248807/jailed-thai-ex-pm-thaksin-qualifies-special-parole-next-month-due-age-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3248807/jailed-thai-ex-pm-thaksin-qualifies-special-parole-next-month-due-age-health?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:00:18 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that he sees Thaksin Shinawatra playing a role in government once he is freed from prison – a sign of how the former premier continues to loom over the nation’s politics. “I believe he has value to add to the government and to the people of Thailand,” Srettha said during an interview in New York on Wednesday. The new premier is seeking to revive an economy whose growth has lagged neighbours during nearly a decade of military rule. Forced to flee in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3235287/thailand-pm-most-popular-thaksin-shinawatra-could-play-government-role-after-jail-release-unwise-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3235287/thailand-pm-most-popular-thaksin-shinawatra-could-play-government-role-after-jail-release-unwise-not?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Sep 2023 05:45:48 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is suffering from stress and fatigue but is in good spirits, his daughter said on Tuesday as criticism grew of his transfer to a hospital just hours after he began serving an eight-year prison sentence. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, returned to Thailand last week after 15 years of self-imposed exile and was immediately sent to prison over several criminal convictions he has decried as politically motivated. Corrections officials... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3232702/daughter-ex-thai-leader-thaksin-says-he-fatigued-criticism-grows-his-hospitalisation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3232702/daughter-ex-thai-leader-thaksin-says-he-fatigued-criticism-grows-his-hospitalisation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Aug 2023 11:19:07 +0000 Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra attended a birthday party for outgoing Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh, according to video posted online on Sunday, a day after Thaksin said he would delay plans to return to Thailand following years of self-imposed exile. Thaksin’s appearance in Cambodia came at a politically sensitive time in neighbouring Thailand, as Pheu Thai, the latest in a string of parties affiliated with Thaksin, is seeking to win enough support in Parliament... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3230148/thai-ex-pm-thaksin-seen-video-cambodian-leader-hun-sens-birthday-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3230148/thai-ex-pm-thaksin-seen-video-cambodian-leader-hun-sens-birthday-party?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Aug 2023 09:25:54 +0000 Thailand’s billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to the kingdom on August 10 after 15 years in self-exile, his daughter said on Wednesday. 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. Thaksin is a bogeyman for Thailand’s pro-military and royalist establishment and his return could inflame an already... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3228963/thailands-thaksin-will-return-exile-august-10-says-daughter-paetongtarn-shinawatra?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3228963/thailands-thaksin-will-return-exile-august-10-says-daughter-paetongtarn-shinawatra?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Jul 2023 06:42:06 +0000 The front-running candidate for prime minister of Thailand says she is eager to get back on the campaign trail, just two days after giving birth. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday at the hospital in Bangkok where she gave birth, Paetongtarn Shinawatra – better known by her nickname ‘Ung Ing’ – said her new baby boy wouldn’t affect her ability to rally support for her Pheu Thai Party with just under two weeks to go before the polls. “I believe good things come along with children,” she... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3219278/top-thailand-pm-candidate-paetongtarn-ung-ing-shinawatra-resumes-campaign-just-2-days-after-giving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3219278/top-thailand-pm-candidate-paetongtarn-ung-ing-shinawatra-resumes-campaign-just-2-days-after-giving?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 May 2023 12:20:11 +0000 Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the most popular candidate running to be Thailand’s next prime minister in elections later this month, has given birth to a baby boy, prompting her billionaire father Thaksin to lament missing the birth of a seventh grandchild during his self-exile overseas. In a photo shared with her half a million Instagram followers on Monday morning, a smiling Paetongtarn – better known by her nickname ‘Ung Ing’ – and her husband welcomed the birth of Thasin, their second child, and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3218975/leading-candidate-thai-pm-paetongtarn-ung-ing-shinawatra-gives-birth-baby-boy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3218975/leading-candidate-thai-pm-paetongtarn-ung-ing-shinawatra-gives-birth-baby-boy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 May 2023 04:47:51 +0000 Paetongtarn Shinawatra whispered a short prayer at a Bangkok shrine as she headed into eight weeks that will decide whether Thailand’s most successful political dynasty returns to power, after being sidelined by the military for nearly a decade. Thailand goes to the polls on May 14 with pro-democrats aching for a course-correction after nearly nine years of government by former army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha. He took power in a 2014 coup before reinventing himself as a civilian leader. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3214713/thai-election-thaksins-daughter-paetongtarn-readies-may-14-vote-army-and-youth-pose-major-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3214713/thai-election-thaksins-daughter-paetongtarn-readies-may-14-vote-army-and-youth-pose-major-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Mar 2023 03:00:18 +0000 Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has endorsed a decree to dissolve parliament, according to an announcement in the Royal Gazette on Monday, ahead of the end of the lower house’s four-year term on Wednesday, paving the way for an election in May. It must be held 45 to 60 days after the house dissolution, which takes effect immediately. “This is a return of political decision-making power to the people swiftly to continue democratic government with the king as head of state,” said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3214163/thailand-dissolves-parliament-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3214163/thailand-dissolves-parliament-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Mar 2023 09:18:52 +0000 Touting her billionaire family’s legacy of populism and massive election victories, Thailand’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra is emerging as the candidate to beat in coming polls, betting that nostalgia can win millions of working class votes. Paetongtarn, 36, is campaigning hard in the vote-rich rural strongholds of the Shinawatra family’s Pheu Thai political juggernaut, hoping to reignite the kind of fervour that swept father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck to power in unprecedented landslides. Political... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3210814/paetongtarn-pm-thaksins-daughter-banks-nostalgia-win-thailand-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3210814/paetongtarn-pm-thaksins-daughter-banks-nostalgia-win-thailand-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Feb 2023 07:02:07 +0000 Paetongtarn Shinawatra, bidding to follow in the footsteps of her father and aunt in becoming Thai prime minister, is confident her party can achieve a landslide victory at the next elections with better policies to ease the burden of voters. The 36-year-old daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra is widely seen as the Pheu Thai opposition party’s top potential candidate for the premiership, alongside property tycoon Srettha Thavisin. She has been leading her party’s outreach programme ahead of elections... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3208405/thailand-needs-be-fixed-and-pheu-thai-one-do-it-says-thaksins-daughter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3208405/thailand-needs-be-fixed-and-pheu-thai-one-do-it-says-thaksins-daughter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Jan 2023 04:02:07 +0000 Thailand’s main opposition party with links to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen to have the highest chance of forming the next government in a general election expected early next year, a poll showed. Pheu Thai Party has the confidence of 73 per cent of people surveyed across the country, who either said it “will definitely” or has “quite a high chance” to lead, according to the poll published on Sunday by the National Institute of Development Administration. Palang Pracharath,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3202934/about-3-4-thais-think-thaksins-pheu-thai-party-should-be-charge-thailand-poll-shows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3202934/about-3-4-thais-think-thaksins-pheu-thai-party-should-be-charge-thailand-poll-shows?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Dec 2022 03:08:40 +0000 Thailand’s Constitutional Court surprised the nation last week by suspending Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army chief who first took power in a 2014 coup and stayed on following an election five years later. The court, whose members were largely picked by a military-appointed Senate, took the action while it deliberates on whether Prayuth exceeded an eight-year term limit added into the post-coup constitution. That provision was intended to prevent popular elected leaders from... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3190498/thailand-politics-4-ways-prayuth-chan-ochas-suspension?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3190498/thailand-politics-4-ways-prayuth-chan-ochas-suspension?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Aug 2022 02:08:45 +0000 Rattawee Puiprom has been let down by repeated military coups in Thailand. Numerous times throughout the years she has seen political parties she supported, ones backed by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, pushed out of power and its members tried in court. Yet when Thailand holds its next general election in 2023, she will still vote for the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai opposition – rivals to the government led by Prayuth Chan-ocha who staged a coup in 2014 overthrowing Yingluck... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3188011/even-exile-thailands-former-leader-thaksin-shinawatra-tries-sway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3188011/even-exile-thailands-former-leader-thaksin-shinawatra-tries-sway?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:30:15 +0000 Hundreds of protesters drove through Bangkok’s streets on Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of a military coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The billionaire ex-premier – now living in self-exile – has remained a prominent figure in the country’s politics since the military deposed his government on September 19, 2006. Unloading a massive cardboard model of a tank for their “cars against tanks” protest, rallygoers honked car horns to call for the resignation of Premier Prayuth... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3149351/thai-protesters-gather-kick-out-pm-prayuth-anniversary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3149351/thai-protesters-gather-kick-out-pm-prayuth-anniversary?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Sep 2021 15:28:06 +0000 A court in Thailand on Friday annulled a 2016 order by the country’s finance ministry for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay 35.7 billion baht (US$1.1 billion) in compensation for losses incurred by a money-losing rice farming subsidy programme that her 2011-2014 administration launched. The country’s Central Administrative Court said the 2016 payment order lacked a legal basis since Yingluck was not responsible for the alleged corruption because it was carried out operationally by... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3128187/thai-court-voids-order-former-pm-yingluck-shinawatra-pay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3128187/thai-court-voids-order-former-pm-yingluck-shinawatra-pay?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Apr 2021 23:00:11 +0000 The moment protesters strayed into the forbidden territory of the monarchy, many Thais thought the countdown to a crackdown had begun. But six weeks on the government remains watchful, showing a rare reticence to quash dissent, which experts attribute to the Thai leadership being sent into a tailspin by a sinking economy and a young pro-democracy movement demanding root-and-branch reforms. The dates of bloody crackdowns – 1973, 1976, 1992, 2010 – mark the tragic course of Thailand’s faltering... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3103017/thai-student-protesters-gain-upper-hand-prayuth-government-reels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3103017/thai-student-protesters-gain-upper-hand-prayuth-government-reels?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Sep 2020 06:30:33 +0000 Three people were killed in a shoot-out at a Thai courtroom on Tuesday during a hearing into an inheritance dispute, according to police, who said two of the victims were lawyers. The gunman opened fire on the opposing side in the dispute in Chanthaburi provincial court, before a guard shot back and fatally wounded him. National police office spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen said three people including the assailant were confirmed dead, while others were injured in the melee. “Two are lawyers,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3037422/three-dead-thai-court-shooting-including-ex-pm-yinglucks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3037422/three-dead-thai-court-shooting-including-ex-pm-yinglucks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 11:13:45 +0000 Fugitive former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was sentenced in Thailand to five years in prison on corruption-related charges, has received Serbian citizenship. Local magazine Nedeljnik published an image of a government document dated June 27 that said Yingluck had “obtained Serbian citizenship”. It appeared to be signed by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic. State news agency Tanjug reported on Thursday that the Serbian government made the decision “because it could be in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3022058/fugitive-ex-thai-prime-minister-yingluck-shinawatra-given?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3022058/fugitive-ex-thai-prime-minister-yingluck-shinawatra-given?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2019 17:24:12 +0000 Thailand’s General Prayuth Cha-ocha has been returned for another term as prime minister after beating his anti-military rival Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit in this week’s joint parliamentary ballot, 500 votes to 244. While Prayuth far surpassed the 376 votes needed out of the 750 from the lower House of Representatives and the Senate combined, his victory came after a long and heated parliamentary debate over the pro-military candidate’s suitability for the top job, the military’s opaque... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3013366/reality-bites-thailand-political-cobras-return-prime-minister?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3013366/reality-bites-thailand-political-cobras-return-prime-minister?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:30:07 +0000 Thailand’s parliament has confirmed junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister two months after the country’s disputed general election in March. More than an hour after voting began, Prayuth acquired 376 votes, which is a majority in the 750-seat lower and upper houses. The confirmation came about 12 hours after the Thai parliament convened on Wednesday morning. The final tally stood at 500 for Prayuth and 244 for his sole rival, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, with three abstaining. A... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3013141/prayuth-chan-ocha-poised-retain-top-job-thai-parliament-prepares?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3013141/prayuth-chan-ocha-poised-retain-top-job-thai-parliament-prepares?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 03:04:42 +0000 Hong Kong is set to play host this week to Thailand’s powerful Shinawatra clan just days ahead of Sunday’s general election – but the gathering has nothing to do with the closely watched polls. Instead, the family led by self-exiled patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra will be in the city for the wedding on Friday of Paetongtarn “Ing” Shinawatra – the former prime minister’s youngest daughter – to Pidok Sooksawas, a professional pilot. View this post on Instagram A... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3002215/thailands-powerful-shinawatra-clan-set-visit-hong-kong-days-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3002215/thailands-powerful-shinawatra-clan-set-visit-hong-kong-days-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Mar 2019 12:02:59 +0000 KING MAHA VAJIRALONGKORN Asked in a 1980 BBC interview what being a royal was like, Maha Vajiralongkorn, then 28, said he knew no other life. “I have been born, from the first second of my life, as a prince,” he said. “It is difficult to say what it’s like to be a fish when you are a fish. Or what it’s like to be a bird when you are a bird.” Today, the king splits his time between Germany – where he lives in relative privacy – and Thailand, where he is accorded near-deity status. When he took... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2186404/princess-prayuth-whos-who-thai-elections-game-thrones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2186404/princess-prayuth-whos-who-thai-elections-game-thrones?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Feb 2019 02:49:16 +0000 THE THAI DRAMA lasted ostensibly less than a day. But the shock waves of the February 8 political earthquake triggered by Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya’s abortive prime ministerial candidacy – vetoed by her younger brother King Maha Vajiralongkorn within hours – are still being felt as the Thai public grapples with the meaning of that moment. The motivation behind the monarch’s edict remains opaque, as do its consequences. Some say his decision was more a rebuke than a reminder, while others... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2186389/forget-junta-does-king-vajiralongkorn-hold-all-cards-thai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2186389/forget-junta-does-king-vajiralongkorn-hold-all-cards-thai?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Feb 2019 01:03:17 +0000 Allies of Thailand’s exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra are seeking to woo voters with a plan to revive economic growth after a failed bid to run King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s sister as a prime minister candidate in next month’s election. Kittiratt Na Ranong, a former finance minister and deputy leader of Pheu Thai – one of several parties backed by Thaksin along with Thai Raksa Chart – said his colleagues are “going forward in full gear” ahead of the March 24 vote. He distanced the group from... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2185913/shinawatra-proxies-set-their-sights-thailands-economy-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2185913/shinawatra-proxies-set-their-sights-thailands-economy-after?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Feb 2019 00:39:06 +0000 As many as 10 parliamentary candidates from the Pheu Chart Party are named Thaksin and Yingluck – and it is hardly a coincidence. Pheu Chart, a political franchise of the Pheu Thai Party backed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, found itself caught up in a whirlwind this week after its candidates changed their names to the names of the two Shinawatra siblings days before registrations for political candidates opened on February 4. Jirarote Kiratisakworakul, a candidate from Phayao... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2185213/thailand-election-campaigning-has-real-case-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2185213/thailand-election-campaigning-has-real-case-military?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Feb 2019 02:00:00 +0000 Whether you’re gathering with relatives, feasting on Lunar New Year delicacies or plain taking a break during this festive season, here are 10 of our most popular This Week In Asia features to enjoy or revisit over the new few days. Muslim teen Rahaf Mohammed is safe in Canada. What if she were Malaysian or Indonesian? While Muslim-born atheists face prison and re-education in Malaysia, in Indonesia non-believers risk being charged with blasphemy – and despite growing calls for compassion,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2185084/destructive-durians-passports-sale-koreas-natural-extinction-here?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2185084/destructive-durians-passports-sale-koreas-natural-extinction-here?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Feb 2019 11:00:45 +0000 The news that Thailand’s former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is in possession of a Cambodian passport poses a troubling question for many of her new-found compatriots: who gave it to her? The self-exiled leader, who fled Thailand in August 2017 before being sentenced to prison on what she says are politically motivated charges, used a Cambodian passport to register as the sole director of a Hong Kong company incorporated in August last year – as revealed by the South China Morning... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2183703/who-gave-thailands-ex-pm-yingluck-shinawatra-cambodian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2183703/who-gave-thailands-ex-pm-yingluck-shinawatra-cambodian?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jan 2019 07:04:41 +0000 The red passport emblazoned with the words “Kingdom of Cambodia” in gold might not be what anyone would expect Yingluck Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand, to present at an immigration checkpoint. With visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to just 54 destinations worldwide, it is ranked among the least powerful passports in the world by the annual Henley Passport Index, at a lowly No. 84 out of 104. Officially, anyone with US$300,000 to spare can pick up a Cambodian passport. That is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2183704/passports-sale-yinglucks-cambodian-jho-lows-st-kitts-heres?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2183704/passports-sale-yinglucks-cambodian-jho-lows-st-kitts-heres?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jan 2019 00:30:15 +0000 Will it be on March 10? Or March 24? After May 7, maybe? The guessing game on when Thailand’s dithering military junta will hold long-delayed elections has the country’s political class gritting their teeth – some even contemplating public protests in Bangkok this weekend over the matter, even at the risk of arrest. With a top junta official on Thursday giving the firmest indication yet that the military rulers hope for polls on March 24, analysts say they are contemplating a deeper question:... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2182803/thai-election-can-shinawatras-keep-it-family-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2182803/thai-election-can-shinawatras-keep-it-family-again?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jan 2019 05:00:30 +0000 Inside an ordinary ancestral shrine in a village in southern China, where locals pay respects to their forebears, hang photographs of two unusual figures: former Thailand prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra. “Everyone here knows about their ties to this place, for sure,” said Xie Yimin, a home supplies shop owner in Taxia village in Guangdong province, four hours’ drive from Guangzhou. Brother and sister Thaksin and Yingluck are fourth-generation Chinese immigrants in Thailand and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2182617/shinawatras-out-lee-kuan-yew-asian-leaders-differing-treatment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2182617/shinawatras-out-lee-kuan-yew-asian-leaders-differing-treatment?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Jan 2019 03:30:30 +0000 Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided to annul diplomatic passports issued to anyone born outside the country, ordering such passports be issued in only the “most necessary” cases. In a two-page instruction, issued last Wednesday, the prime minister also ordered all government bodies to retrieve such passports for a thorough check, the Phnom Penh Post reported on Monday. The instruction was issued the same day the South China Morning Post reported Thailand’s former prime minister Yingluck... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2182103/yingluck-shinawatra-used-cambodian-passport-flee-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2182103/yingluck-shinawatra-used-cambodian-passport-flee-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 04:43:18 +0000