The one wish Thaksin Shinawatra made while blowing out 72 candles on his birthday cake on Monday (July 26) was to be able to return home.
Thaksin was ousted in the 2006 coup after serving as prime minister for just over five years. He returned to Thailand for a brief visit in February 2008 before fleeing charges of corruption in July that year. He was subsequently sentenced to two years in jail in absentia and has lived in self-exile ever since.
The fugitive former premier has repeatedly voiced a desire to return to his motherland. However, he has never sounded so confident about achieving that aim as he did on July 13 in a chatroom of the social-networking app Clubhouse.
“I reiterate, I will definitely come back. I will reveal more details when the time is right. I will arrive through the front door of Suvarnabhumi Airport, not the back door,” Thaksin told his supporters in the Clubhouse chatroom, where he is a regular guest of “CARE” – a thinktank founded by his inner circle.
Soon after Thaksin – who uses the name “Tony Woodsome” as a handle on Clubhouse – made the announcement, the hashtag #พี่โทนี่กลับไทยแน่ (Brother Tony is definitely returning) began trending on Twitter.
What is Thaksin’s real agenda?
Though it appears unlikely that Thaksin will be able to return freely anytime soon, observers say the former PM has chosen the right time to announce a comeback. Frustration in Thailand is growing over Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s perceived failure to tackle the pandemic and its economic fallout – a perfect time for Thaksin to leverage his own popularity and undermine the current PM’s authority.
Wanwichit Boonprong, a political science lecturer at Rangsit University, said Thaksin knows he won’t be able to return in the near future, but he wants to test the waters to see if conservative forces remain strong in their support for Prayut and opposed to his return.
The analyst pointed out that Prayut’s support base appears to be weakening as the PM faces a crisis of public confidence.
“Thaksin is testing the public’s faith in Prayut. He wants to know if they still stand shoulder to shoulder with the PM,” Wanwichit said.
Thaksin will also want to gauge how popular himself and his Pheu Thai Party remain among young voters.
Once famous as a telecom tycoon, Thaksin has found the perfect channel to connect with his fans back home – this time as “Brother Tony”. On Clubhouse, he discusses subjects ranging from politics and economics to the Prayut government’s failings and alleged mismanagement. His audience appear to be drawn mostly from the younger generation.
“Tony clearly wants to win back the hearts of young voters from Kao Klai, successor of the now-defunct Future Forward that made a stunning debut in the last [2019] general election,” he added.
Has Thaksin finally found a way of returning to Thailand 'through the front door'? | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world