Srettha joins Thaksin and ex-PM Somchai for dinner in Chiang Mai
Former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat on Friday threw a dinner party at his home in Chiang Mai’s Mae Rim district to welcome Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, along with several Pheu Thai MPs and political figures.
After the event kicked off at 5.30pm at Somchai’s house in the Green Valley project, MPs and members of the ruling Pheu Thai Party started pouring in to welcome the premier and the two former PMs. They included PM’s Office Minister Puangpetch Chunla-ead, Deputy Interior Minister Kriang Kantinan, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Jakkapong Sangmanee, Deputy Agriculture Minister Chaiya Phromma and party-list MP Sompong Amornvivat.
Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompow and Kamphaeng Phet MP Pai Leeke of the Palang Pracharat Party were also present.
Thaksin showed up at the venue at around 6pm, followed by Srettha a few minutes later. The PM was wearing a shirt made from Pha Khao Ma fabric that he had reportedly bought from Bang Sai Royal Folk Arts and Crafts Centre in Ayutthaya province. He also greeted the former PMs and the hostess, Yaowapha, who is Somchai’s wife and Thaksin’s sister as soon as he arrived.
Srettha, Thaksin and Somchai then sat at the long dinner table along with Pheu Thai executives and members of the Shinawatra family and enjoyed local northern cuisines. A variety of foods, including noodles, meatballs, fried rice, pad Thai, Satay, Japanese curry, beef taco, and roti, were on offer.
Critics have said that Thaksin’s trip to the northern city, which started on Thursday, was just an excuse for him to strengthen his political influence, despite the former premier saying he only wished to pay homage to his ancestors.
During his exile, Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption stemming from his 2001-2006 tenure as prime minister, which was cut short by a military coup.
He received a royal pardon soon after his return to Thailand last year, and his sentence was reduced to one year. The 74-year-old was released on parole after 180 days in detention at Police General Hospital because he was deemed to have met all the criteria, namely age, illness, and minimum period of detention.
Somchai was Thailand’s 26th prime minister from September to December 2008. His term was cut short after the Constitutional Court ordered his People's Power Party dissolved and banned him from politics for five years in a vote-buying case. People's Power Party was the successor of Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai Party – which was dissolved by a court order – and the predecessor of Pheu Thai.
