Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has landed back home in Thailand after 15 years in self-imposed exile.Thaksin, who made his fortune in the telecommunications business, boarded a private plane in Singapore and landed at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport shortly after 9am (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday, according to Thailand’s Khaosod Media and Thai PBS.
Thaksin, who made his fortune in the telecommunications business, boarded a private plane in Singapore and landed at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport shortly after 9am (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday, according to Thailand’s Khaosod Media and Thai PBS.
His sister Yingluck Shinawatra, also a former prime minister, had earlier posted a video on TikTok showing Thaksin, dressed in dark suit with a red tie, walking up the steps to board the small aircraft.
Thousands of supporters, dressed in red, cheered, danced and sang as news of his arrival was announced, despite reports that he would be arrested by police and face criminal charges on his arrival in the country.
Thaksin swept to power in 2001 on a populist platform that appealed to rural Thais who had long been neglected by the country’s ruling elites. He was returned in a landslide five years later, but in September 2006, when Thaksin was in New York preparing to address the United Nations, the military seized power.
Thaksin was later convicted of abuse of power and went into exile, spending most of his time in Dubai
Reports said the now 74-year-old politician would be arrested and taken to the Supreme Court to face the abuse of power and other charges that could see him jailed for as long as 10 years. Thaksin maintains the cases are politically motivated.
Thailand has been beset by political turmoil ever since the 2006 coup, with pro-Thaksin and rival pro-establishment supporters taking to the streets, amid a cycle of elections and coups.
Several thousand red shirts – the grassroots rural movement established to defend Thaksin’s government after the 2006 coup – gathered near the VIP terminal awaiting his arrival.
In a party atmosphere, with food and a soundtrack of the mo Lam music of Isaan, the ricebowl northeast that is the family’s stronghold, they danced and cheered as his plane touched down. Source: Alzazeera News
