Thaksin triumphantly returns to Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand – Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s homecoming Thursday was a triumphant return to the center of Thai politics despite the military’s efforts to eradicate his legacy and keep him at bay.\nThaksin, who was ousted in a September 2006 coup, received a hero’s welcome from thousands of supporters when he landed at Bangkok’s international airport to end 17 months of exile.\nAlthough he faces corruption charges and has promised to stay away from politics, critics fear his return is a calculated step toward regaining power. His path back started with the victory of the pro-Thaskin People’s Power Party in December elections – the first since the coup.\n“He’s in the back seat but he is still driving the car,” said Jon Ungpakorn, former senator and social and political activist.\nCabinet members from the People’s Power Party are expected to defer to the former leader, undermining the authority of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Hours after Thaksin arrived from Hong Kong, the finance minister announced that the government would consult him for economic advice.\nOpponents warn a new political role for Thaksin could renew the deep tensions that provoked mass demonstrations before his ouster.\n“Nobody believes that Thaksin is pulling out of politics because what he is doing is a political game he has been playing all along from behind the scenes,” said Chamlong Srimuang, a former Bangkok governor and one-time Thaksin mentor who helped lead 2006 protests against him. “Thaksin will plunge the country into a greater crisis that people will not be able to tolerate any longer.”\nThaksin, a 58-year-old billionaire, is popular among rural people and the urban poor, who appreciated his financial and social welfare policies.\nBut his autocratic leanings and alleged corruption drew resentment from the Bangkok elite, the military and people associated with the monarchy. Those forces tried to erase Thaksin’s political legacy, changing the constitution and opening criminal investigations against him.\nAfter arriving, Thaksin was escorted by police to the Supreme Court. He and his wife, Pojaman, face charges of corruption and conflict of interest in connection with her purchase of a prime piece of Bangkok real estate in 2003, while he was prime minister.\nAbout $2.1 billion in assets belonging to him and his family have been frozen until his name is cleared. He was swiftly released on bail and said at a news conference that he had “come back to restore my reputation and fight for justice in court.”\nA trial was set for March 12 and Thaksin was barred from leaving the country without the court’s permission, said court secretary Rakkiat Pattanapong.\nThaksin then proceeded to the attorney general’s office where he was also freed on bail in a second case in which he and his wife were accused of concealing ownership of shares in SC Asset, the family’s real estate holding company. A hearing on whether Thaksin would be indicted was set for April 3, said the office’s spokesman, Thanatip Moonpruk.\nThaksin faces up to 15 years in jail, but some believe he will be acquitted.\n“The pressure he will put on the judiciary will be unbearable,” said Kraisak Choonhavan, a member of Parliament with the opposition Democrat party. He noted that in 2001, Thaksin was cleared of charges that he failed to declare all his wealth as required of Thai politicians. \nThaksin, who is legally barred from politics for the next four years, insisted he would devote his time to charity and sports development.\n“I don’t want to be involved in politics any longer. I want to live peacefully with my family and die in this motherland,” Thaksin said.\nBut the People’s Power Party is regarded as a proxy for Thaksin, whose former Thai Rak Thai party was disbanded by court order.\n“From now on, the ministers will consult Thaksin, their real leader, instead of Samak Sundaravej,” said Sombat Thamrongtranyawong, a professor at the National Institute of Development Administration. \n“Surely Samak is not happy and uneasy with Thaksin’s return because he is well aware that the real leader has come back.”