Singapore, August 22: Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra appeared at Seletar Airport in Singapore on the morning of August 22 and confirmed to the media that he was about to board a plane to return home after 15 years in exile.
"It's time for me to be with the Thai people ," Thaksin told Nikkei Asia newspaper at Seletar airport in Singapore on the morning of August 22, confirming that he would be flying back to Thailand. The private plane carrying the former prime minister is expected to land at Don Mueang airport in the Thai capital Bangkok this morning.
In a related development, Reuters reported that Mrs. Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin 's sister and another ousted former prime minister of Thailand, on the morning of August 22 posted a video on Facebook of Thaksin stepping on a machine. flying, as well as grandma and grandpa on the plane.
"The day my brother has been waiting for has arrived," she wrote in the post, although she did not provide information on when or where the photos and videos were taken.
General DamrongsakKittiprapas, head of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), on August 21 confirmed that Thaksin would return home on August 22 as previously reported, according to the Bangkok Post . Mr. Damrongsak did not say which airport Mr. Thaksin would enter Thailand through, but police would ensure security for the former leader as they would for other key figures.
Thaksin's return comes on the same day Thailand's parliament votes to elect a prime minister, and Pheu Thai, a political party affiliated with the Shinawatra clan, is hoping it will be able to form a new government after it builds. formed a coalition of 11 parties, including factions that were once rivals.
For more than 20 years, and even in his absence, Mr. Thaksin remains a highly influential figure in Thai politics. With his huge fortune, he still comes into contact with influential Thai figures in Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong - places he frequented during his exile - and still openly expresses his concern. scores on social networking platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Clubhouse.
So far this year, Thaksin-linked parties have won every election since 2001, when he came to power in Thailand alongside the Thai Rak Thai party. Ms. Yingluck, who also lives in exile after serving a five-year prison sentence, was the last Pheu Thai prime minister before the most recent coup in 2014.
"I was free to move around the world, but I was confined [in the sense of] being away from my family. If I go back and end up in a smaller prison, it doesn't matter." , Thaksin told Nikkei Asia in August.
Upon his return, Mr. Thaksin will face the 12-year prison sentence he was sentenced in absentia to in 2008, on charges of bribery and corruption. But political observers say the 74-year-old is unlikely to have to serve this sentence.
RTP units on August 21 rehearsed the activities they will carry out on August 22, including taking Mr. Thaksin from the airport to the Immigration Police Department to conduct the identity verification process. According to the plan, Mr. Thaksin will then be taken to the headquarters of an RTP unit in Bangkok, and then to the Supreme Court of Thailand. The court will issue an arrest warrant and Mr Thaksin will be transferred to a Bangkok prison to await further legal proceedings.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper