Chuwit’s claim of Thaksin rethinking return dismissed as ‘nonsense’
Whistleblower Chuwit Kamolvisit’s claim that former PM Thaksin Shinawatra has dropped plans to return home on August 10 is being disputed by Thaksin’s daughter and security sources.
Chuwit, who transformed from a massage parlour tycoon to a politician and then to a whistleblower, said in a Facebook post on Saturday that Thaksin has decided to wait until the “situation has changed” before he returns to Thailand.
The outspoken firebrand claimed the former PM changed his mind after receiving a “warning of danger beyond expectation”.
However, Thaksin’s youngest daughter Paetongtarn, who is one of Pheu Thai Party’s three prime ministerial candidates, appears to be questioning Chuwit’s claim.
In response to a media celebrity’s Facebook post on Chuwit’s declaration, Paetongtarn simply wrote: “Nonsense”.
Paetongtarn had said on her Facebook page last Wednesday that her father would land at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport on August 10.
On Saturday, sources from a security agency said there have been no changes to Thaksin’s plan to return to Thailand on August 10.
Thaksin served as Thailand’s prime minister from February 2001 to September 2006, when his government was overthrown in a military coup. He has been in self-exile overseas since August 2008 after leaving the country shortly before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders sentenced him to two years in jail for abuse of power.
Over the past years, Thaksin has been sentenced in absentia to a total of 10 years in jail for three corruption cases stemming from his tenure.
