BANGKOK: Thailand’s self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra plans to return to the country on Aug. 10, his daughter said on Wednesday, amid a prolonged political crisis following a May general election.
“I don’t quite believe what I am typing, dad is returning on 10 Aug at Don Muang Airport,” Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a social media post, referring to an airport in the capital Bangkok.
Thaksin, who made a fortune in the telecommunications business and was premier from 2001 until he was ousted in a 2006 coup, currently lives in self-imposed exile after fleeing Thailand to avoid a jail sentence for graft in 2008.
The Pheu Thai party backed by Thaksin, 74, is currently attempting to form a government in Thailand, after coming second in the May 14 general election.