Thailand’s ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra was put in jail when he came back to the country after being away for 15 years.
However, a lot of people think he has made an agreement that will prevent him from staying in prison for a long time.
He came in a special airplane called a private jet on Tuesday morning before a vote for the next Thai leader. The person who is most likely going to win is from his political party called Pheu Thai.
He was given a punishment of eight years in jail because of past crimes he believes were driven by political reasons.
Mr Thaksin, who was very successful as Thailand’s elected leader, has always worried conservative royalists. These royalists have supported military takeovers and controversial court cases to undermine his power.
However, the bold and power-seeking telecommunications magnate has returned, after being removed from power by a military takeover for many years. He arrived at Bangkok’s main airport and was greeted with cheers from many loyal followers who had waited overnight to see him. He stepped out of the airport with his two daughters and son. He briefly stopped to honor a painting of the king and queen.
The 74-year-old person was quickly brought to the Supreme Court because of three past crimes, and was then sent to Bangkok Remand Prison for eight years.
The prison officials claim that because he is old, he will be placed in a section of the prison that has special medical tools. He will have to stay in his room for the first five days of a 10-day quarantine, according to authorities.
According to those in charge of the prison, Thaksin is rumoured to be considering asking the monarch for pardon, and they claimed he can do it immediately while inside. The process typically takes between one and two months to finish.
On Tuesday morning, a sizable contingent of individuals wearing red shirts showed up at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to greet the former leader.
Samniang Kongpolparn is 63 years old and had been waiting to see Mr. Thaksin since Monday evening. She, like many others who support him, had traveled from Surin province in the northeast. This province has been a strong base for Mr. Thaksin’s party in the past.
He is the best person in charge of the government that we have ever had. “She said that even though she wouldn’t get to see him today, she still wanted to come and show him support. ” “I’m okay with them making peace with the pro-military government, otherwise we will be left with the senators. ” We do not want that.
The political party that Thaksin is part of is in a prominent position.
Mr Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party is likely to join a coalition government today, marking a complex process that has brought Thailand back to where it started in three months.
It all started with the excited hopes of a new beginning led by the young and radical Move Forward party. They won the most seats in the election that took place in May.
Move Forward initially joined forces with Pheu Thai but it is now clear that the coalition will include almost everyone except the reformers. This includes two parties led by former coup-makers, which is a surprising partnership as Pheu Thai promised they would not make.
Pheu Thai says that the two events are not related. Not many people think that.
Pheu Thai’s actions have been restricted by the unelected senate, a group of 250 people appointed by the military junta after a coup in 2014.
Pheu Thai didn’t do as well as expected in the election and lost many supporters to Move Forward. This made their negotiating power weaker and they were put in second place for the first time.
The senators, who were chosen by the military government, have the right to vote alongside the 500 elected MPs to choose the new prime minister. They aim to stop any party that could pose a risk to the current situation in Thailand, which is controlled by a combination of the monarchy, military, and big businesses. This control has been in place for many years now.
Not surprisingly, they said no to supporting the Move Forward-led coalition with Pheu Thai, even though it has a big majority in the lower house. When Pheu Thai had to negotiate a new coalition, they needed support from the senate. This meant they had to include some of their previous opponents in their group.
However, some politicians from the Pheu Thai party believe that they should have waited for a better agreement instead of joining a government with extremely conservative groups. A government that does not include the Pheu Thai and Move Forward parties would not last long, as the senators are not allowed to participate in important voting like decisions on the budget.
However, the Pheu Thai leaders did not want to wait. They even asked the ultra-royalist party United Thai Nation to join their group. In the past, the leaders of this party strongly criticized the Shinawatra family and their supporters. They also played a significant role in removing the last Pheu Thai government led by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck. The fact that these two groups will now work together in the same government shows how much Thai politics has changed.
Finally, the ultra-royalists were more worried about Move Forward and the younger Thais who wanted to discuss the monarchy’s power and wealth than their ongoing dispute with the Shinawatra family.
The Shinawatras and the more business-focused members of the Pheu Thai party have been more concerned with returning to power and ensuring that Thaksin comes back, rather than worrying about the party’s image.
However, some people within the Pheu Thai group are really scared and upset about the sneaky practicality of this agreement. They are saying that the party will lose more of its dedicated supporters and the power it had in Thai politics for a long time.