BANGKOK, July 26 — Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been in self-exile for 15 years, plans to return to Thailand on August 10.
His daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, one of three prime ministerial candidates from Pheu Thai which is now leading a coalition of eight parties in the bid to form a government after the May 14 General Election, made the announcement on social media.
“Dad is returning on Aug 10 at Don Muang Airport,” she wrote a message in conjunction with her father’s 74th birthday on Wednesday.
Paetongtarn added Thaksin has been contemplating returning home since the beginning of 2022.
“We are both glad and worried, but we always respect father’s decisions,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said Thaksin will be subjected to the judicial process upon his planned return.
“The police will conduct their duties as usual when the plane lands. He will have to go to court and listen to what they decide,” he was quoted saying by an international news agency.
In May this year, Thaksin had indicated he would return to Thailand in July before his birthday but it was delayed.
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 by a military coup led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.
He left Thailand in August 2008 to avoid facing time in prison. The Supreme Court sentenced him in absentia to two years in jail for abuse of power.
Thaksin recently said he intended to return to Thailand even if it meant serving time in jail. He said he did not want the government to push for amnesty.
— Bernama
