[BANGKOK] Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is scheduled to return to Bangkok on Monday (Sep 8), days after his abrupt departure for Dubai stoked speculation about him fleeing the country ahead of a court ruling that could see him jailed.
Thaksin, 76, arrived in Singapore in his private jet early Monday and will travel to the Thai capital later in the day, according to a source familiar with his plans who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Several Thai media outlets including Khaosod reported that Thaksin will arrive in Bangkok at 5 pm, without naming their sources.
The return would be keeping in line with Thaksin’s pledge to be back in time for the scheduled court ruling on Tuesday. One of Thailand’s most prominent political figures and a two-time premier, Thaksin travelled to Dubai last week for what he called a medical checkup after his original plan to visit Singapore was aborted by delayed Thai immigration clearance.
As at early Friday morning, the jet that Thaksin took to Dubai was seen at Singapore’s Seletar private jet airport, according to Flightradar 24.
Sorawong Thienthong, secretary-general of the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai Party, declined to comment on Thaksin’s travel plan, saying it was his personal matter.
Thaksin’s Dubai visit came hours before Thai parliament picked Anutin Charnvirakul, a political rival, as the country’s new prime minister following the ouster of his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethical misconduct days earlier.
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A split in Paetongtarn’s coalition and the subsequent defeat of its prime minister candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri point to the unravelling of a deal that Pheu Thai struck with conservative parties to share power. That bargain had helped Thaksin, who served as prime minister from 2001 until a 2006 coup, return to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed exile.
Thaksin spent parts of his exile in Dubai, after fleeing corruption charges tied to his time in office. His sister, former leader Yingluck Shinawatra, remains in exile after leaving Thailand in 2017.
On his return, Thaksin was sentenced to eight years in prison, which was royally commuted to one year. He then spent six months in a hospital before being released on parole earlier this year.
A court is set to decide on Tuesday whether his time in the hospital counts as having served his sentence. Last month, he was acquitted in a separate case of breaching Thailand’s strict royal defamation laws, prompting a ban on his overseas travel to be lifted.
Paetongtarn was the fifth Shinawatra-linked premier dismissed by the Constitutional Court in a country which has a long history of political upheaval, with royalist judges and generals repeatedly toppling elected leaders. BLOOMBERG
