Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra told the BBC Thai service today (Saturday) that he will definitely return to Thailand next Tuesday and that the date has nothing to do with the parliament meeting on the same day to select Thailand’s 30th prime minister.
This morning, his youngest daughter Paetongtarn said on her Instagram and X (Twitter) accounts that she will go to Don Mueang airport to welcome her father.
“No more postponements,” Thaksin told BBC Thai before he leaves Dubai, his home for the past several years, for Singapore. He is scheduled to arrive at Don Mueang airport in his private jet at 9am.
In response to a BBC Thai question about whether former real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin, who is expected to be nominated as the next prime minister by the Pheu Thai party, will receive enough approval votes from MPs and senators, Thaksin answered “definitely”.
He insisted that his return to Thailand was planned before House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha announced the prime minister’s selection joint sitting of parliament on the 22nd.
Thaksin has been living in self-imposed exile since he was overthrown in a military coup on September 19th, 2006, while he was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is also acting justice minister, says that he has not yet been officially informed by his ministry about Thaksin’s return adding, however, that the police may know about it.
As the Justice Ministry is directly responsible for handling Thaksin’s case, Wissanu said the former prime minister should have formally notified the ministry in advance but, because today is a holiday, he might not have been able to do so.
He said that the ministry will use the plan to deal with the fugitive prime minister which was set two weeks ago, when Thaksin announced he would return on August 10th.
Wissanu explained that Thaksin will be treated like an ordinary suspect upon his return to Thailand. He will be escorted to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders, to be issued with the imprisonment warrant, and then be escorted, by Corrections Department officials, to Klong Prem prison.
Asked whether his family will be able to visit him in prison right away, the deputy prime minister said that he is unsure of the correct procedure adding, however, that he has said in the past that it might not be convenient for correctional officials if any special measures were to be used in dealing with Thaksin.
Regarding a Royal pardon, Wissanu said that the former prime minister or his family members could apply for a Royal pardon in writing but, if the application is rejected, he will have to serve at least two years in prison before a second Royal pardon application can be submitted.
