[UPDATED] Thaksin jailed on return to Thailand after 15-year exile

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was arrested and taken to court, and swiftly jailed, after he returned to Thailand following 15 years in self-imposed exile.

Thaksin had boarded a private plane in Singapore and landed at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport shortly after 9am today, reported Thailand’s Khaosod Media and Thai PBS.

His return coincides with the country’s bicameral vote for a new prime minister today, three months after the May 14 general election.

The South China Morning Post reported that he was taken by police to the Supreme Court for a hearing on three convictions in absentia, which Thaksin has insisted was part of a political conspiracy. The court said he will have to serve eight years in jail for the convictions.

The former prime minister had been accompanied on the flight by his son and daughters, including Paetongtarn, who is one of the Pheu Thai Party’s three prime ministerial candidates. Upon arrival, he laid flowers at the image of King Maha Vajiralongkorn outside the terminal building. 

He briefly greeted his family members, supporters and media who were gathered outside the terminal building before going into the building again.

Earlier, Thaksin’s supporters in red shirts gathered outside the airport’s private jet terminal to welcome him home, holding placards.

His supporters have been camping outside the terminal since yesterday. Many of them had travelled from several provinces to the airport to greet the former prime minister.

Besides that, key figures and MPs from Pheu Thai were also at the terminal to greet Thaksin.

Earlier, Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, also a former prime minister, shared images and videos on her Facebook of her sending off Thaksin boarding a jet.

“Finally, the day you [Thaksin] [were] looking forward to has arrived.

“I wish you good luck on your trip back. Please stay healthy, brother,” she wrote on her Facebook.

Thaksin, who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006, has been living in exile since 2008, spending most of his time in Dubai after his government was ousted in a military coup led by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin.

He fled Thailand in August 2008 to avoid facing time in prison for several criminal cases. He faces up to 10 years’ jail for his convictions by the Supreme Court’s criminal division for holders of political positions in three separate cases.

Pheu Thai, a party linked to Thaksin, has joined forces with two parties backed by the military in a bid to form the next government and end the political gridlock after the general election.

Pheu Thai, which came in second in May’s general election with 141 seats, is leading an 11-party coalition and will be backing real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin to become the next prime minister in today’s parliamentary vote.

However, Srettha needs backing from the senators, as a prime minister nominee needs 376 votes in the 750-member bicameral Parliament to be elected and form a government. – The Vibes, August 22, 2023