PM insists issue is all about the rule of law
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said plans by fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return from self-exile to Thailand were not brought up during a meeting with the head of police on Monday.
Gen Prayut was responding to media questions about the meeting with national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas and whether the two spoke about Thaksin’s plans.
“We never talked about Thaksin, and should I have to get involved with him?” he said.
Asked what police need to be prepared if Thaksin did return, Gen Prayut said that the matter has nothing to do with the government as it is about the rule of law.
“If he returns, he will have to face legal procedures, that’s all. I have nothing to do with it,” he said.
Thaksin tweeted before the May 14 election that he was determined to return to Thailand before his 74th birthday on July 26. He also tweeted that he wanted to return home to care for his grandchildren. He said he was ready to face justice.
Thaksin was overthrown by a military coup on Sept 19, 2006, while overseas. He has since lived in self-imposed exile, except for a brief visit to Thailand in 2008. There are 18 records of him talking about him returning in that time.
The first was on March 30, 2009, when he addressed red-shirt protesters outside Government House via a video conference. “As soon as the first shot is fired at people, I’ll lead you to Bangkok,” he said.
Three years later, he conducted a phone-in to greet red-shirt supporters at a gathering in Surin and told them: “If I go home, I’ll have to come back cool. And I’ll let you know later how to come back cool.” The rest of Thaksin’s homecoming nods were recorded from 2021 to this May.
Thaksin was sentenced in absentia by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions to 12 years in prison over four graft cases. He risks arrest as soon as he is in Thai jurisdiction.