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BANGKOK: Thailand‘s divisive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra was jailed Tuesday as he returned to the dominion after 15 years in exile, hours earlier than parliament votes to put in his occasion’s candidate as the brand new prime minister.
The billionaire landed in a personal jet at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 9 am (0200 GMT), to be greeted by lots of of noisy “Purple Shirt” supporters waving banners and singing songs.
Thaksin emerged briefly from the terminal constructing to bow and provide a floral garland at a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a mark of respect earlier than waving to supporters.
Extra Purple Shirts lined the streets as the previous Manchester Metropolis proprietor was taken to the Supreme Court docket.
There, he was ordered to serve eight years for 3 convictions handed in his absence — one linked to his former Shin Corp firm, one other linked to a financial institution mortgage, and a lottery case.
His return got here on the day parliament is predicted to put in enterprise tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister on the head of a coalition led by the Pheu Thai occasion — the most recent incarnation of Thaksin’s political motion.
Thaksin, 74, was convicted in 4 circumstances in his absence, though the statute of limitations has expired in a single.
Even after the court docket ruling, it’s unclear how lengthy Thaksin will keep in jail.
The timing of his return, as his occasion assumes energy, has led many to take a position {that a} backroom deal has been accomplished to permit him leniency.
“Welcome again to Thailand daddy. My father has now arrived in Thailand safely and has entered the authorized course of,” his daughter Paetongtarn wrote on Instagram, with a photograph of Thaksin along with his three kids and 7 grandchildren within the airport’s VIP lounge.
Thaksin started the day boarding a personal jet in Singapore however he’ll finish it in a Bangkok jail cell — yet one more dramatic shift in a switchback profession that has included two election victories, defeat in a coup, prison fees and lengthy years of self-imposed exile.
Thaksin mentioned he was keen to face justice with a view to return house and see his grandchildren — although he has lengthy maintained the prison fees towards him are politically motivated.
“I want to request permission to return to reside on Thai soil and share the air with my fellow Thai brothers and sisters,” he posted Monday on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X.
For all his lengthy absence from the nation, Thaksin stays Thailand’s most influential — and controversial — politician of recent occasions.
Beloved by the agricultural poor for insurance policies together with low-cost healthcare and the minimal wage, he’s reviled by the pro-military and royalist elite who noticed his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and a menace to Thai social order.
Events linked to Thaksin have dominated elections since 2001 — till this yr, when the progressive Transfer Ahead Get together (MFP) received essentially the most seats.
A whole lot of Purple Shirts waited by way of the evening on the airport to welcome him with songs and banners — most decked out of their normal crimson colors.
“I’m an actual Purple Shirt — at any time when they need our assist, I’ll at all times be there for them,” Karuna Wantang, 70, a retired bureaucrat from Nongkai, within the nation’s northeast, informed AFP.
“I do not solely like him however I like him.”
Whereas Thaksin was being processed by the courts, his occasion formally nominated Srettha as its PM candidate in parliament, the place a affirmation vote will probably be held round 3 pm.
Pheu Thai was crushed into second place in Might’s polls by the progressive MFP.
However MFP’s chief Pita Limjaroenrat noticed his bid to change into PM dashed on the rocks of bitter opposition from conservative junta-appointed senators spooked by his dedication to reform royal insult legal guidelines and sort out enterprise monopolies.
Pheu Thai is assured of getting Srettha permitted in a joint vote by each homes, after gaining one other 40 seats for its coalition on Monday with the addition of the army-linked Palang Pracharath Get together (PPRP).
It takes their controversial grouping — together with military-backed United Thai Nation, the previous occasion of 2014 coup-maker Prayut Chan-o-cha — to 314 decrease home seats.
Following MFP’s exclusion from the primary coalition, Pheu Thai’s offers with army-linked events have enraged some supporters who voted overwhelmingly towards military-backed rule in Might.
The billionaire landed in a personal jet at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 9 am (0200 GMT), to be greeted by lots of of noisy “Purple Shirt” supporters waving banners and singing songs.
Thaksin emerged briefly from the terminal constructing to bow and provide a floral garland at a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a mark of respect earlier than waving to supporters.
Extra Purple Shirts lined the streets as the previous Manchester Metropolis proprietor was taken to the Supreme Court docket.
There, he was ordered to serve eight years for 3 convictions handed in his absence — one linked to his former Shin Corp firm, one other linked to a financial institution mortgage, and a lottery case.
His return got here on the day parliament is predicted to put in enterprise tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister on the head of a coalition led by the Pheu Thai occasion — the most recent incarnation of Thaksin’s political motion.
Thaksin, 74, was convicted in 4 circumstances in his absence, though the statute of limitations has expired in a single.
Even after the court docket ruling, it’s unclear how lengthy Thaksin will keep in jail.
The timing of his return, as his occasion assumes energy, has led many to take a position {that a} backroom deal has been accomplished to permit him leniency.
“Welcome again to Thailand daddy. My father has now arrived in Thailand safely and has entered the authorized course of,” his daughter Paetongtarn wrote on Instagram, with a photograph of Thaksin along with his three kids and 7 grandchildren within the airport’s VIP lounge.
Thaksin started the day boarding a personal jet in Singapore however he’ll finish it in a Bangkok jail cell — yet one more dramatic shift in a switchback profession that has included two election victories, defeat in a coup, prison fees and lengthy years of self-imposed exile.
Thaksin mentioned he was keen to face justice with a view to return house and see his grandchildren — although he has lengthy maintained the prison fees towards him are politically motivated.
“I want to request permission to return to reside on Thai soil and share the air with my fellow Thai brothers and sisters,” he posted Monday on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X.
For all his lengthy absence from the nation, Thaksin stays Thailand’s most influential — and controversial — politician of recent occasions.
Beloved by the agricultural poor for insurance policies together with low-cost healthcare and the minimal wage, he’s reviled by the pro-military and royalist elite who noticed his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and a menace to Thai social order.
Events linked to Thaksin have dominated elections since 2001 — till this yr, when the progressive Transfer Ahead Get together (MFP) received essentially the most seats.
A whole lot of Purple Shirts waited by way of the evening on the airport to welcome him with songs and banners — most decked out of their normal crimson colors.
“I’m an actual Purple Shirt — at any time when they need our assist, I’ll at all times be there for them,” Karuna Wantang, 70, a retired bureaucrat from Nongkai, within the nation’s northeast, informed AFP.
“I do not solely like him however I like him.”
Whereas Thaksin was being processed by the courts, his occasion formally nominated Srettha as its PM candidate in parliament, the place a affirmation vote will probably be held round 3 pm.
Pheu Thai was crushed into second place in Might’s polls by the progressive MFP.
However MFP’s chief Pita Limjaroenrat noticed his bid to change into PM dashed on the rocks of bitter opposition from conservative junta-appointed senators spooked by his dedication to reform royal insult legal guidelines and sort out enterprise monopolies.
Pheu Thai is assured of getting Srettha permitted in a joint vote by each homes, after gaining one other 40 seats for its coalition on Monday with the addition of the army-linked Palang Pracharath Get together (PPRP).
It takes their controversial grouping — together with military-backed United Thai Nation, the previous occasion of 2014 coup-maker Prayut Chan-o-cha — to 314 decrease home seats.
Following MFP’s exclusion from the primary coalition, Pheu Thai’s offers with army-linked events have enraged some supporters who voted overwhelmingly towards military-backed rule in Might.
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