BANGKOK — Adored by millions and reviled by many, Thai billionaire ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has towered over his country's turbulent politics for more than two decades — even though he's lived mostly in self-exile since the army overthrew him in 2006. Now, Thaksin's announcement of plans to return to Thailand in July has caused a stir as voters prepare...
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra speaks to Reuters during an interview in Singapore, Feb 23, 2016.BANGKOK — Adored by millions and reviled by many, Thai billionaire ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has towered over his country's turbulent politics for more than two decades — even though he's lived mostly in self-exile since the army overthrew him in 2006.
But if her father is serious about coming home — some dismiss his latest vow as a play for votes on Sunday — it could complicate what many had presumed would be a post-election scramble by Pheu Thai to try to form a coalition with other opposition parties to end military domination of politics. Either way, Thaksin has again put himself at the centre of a political scene that has at times over the years brought bloody chaos with rival street protests between his supporters, who loved him for populist policies, and his opponents, who despised him as a brash, corrupt opportunist.
Together, the two opposition parties could get as many as two-thirds of lower house seats, putting them tantalisingly close to the 75 per cent needed to overcome the Senate's 250 votes. "For Thaksin to come home, there has to be a deal. He can't just walk into Thailand," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"His opponents and others will be thinking — if Thailand wants to get over this hump, if Thailand is to find peace and stability again, it has to settle the Thaksin conundrum," Thitinan said.
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