“I believe it adds value to the Thai government and people,” Srettha said during an interview in New York on Wednesday. The latest prime minister is attempting to revive an economy whose growth has lagged behind its neighbors during nearly a decade of military rule.
Forced to flee in 2008 to avoid corruption charges, Thaksin, 74, returned to Thailand last month after 15 years of self-imposed exile and arrived hours before Sretta was elected prime minister in parliament. Sretta’s victory got here with Senate assist in an agreement widely seen as a part of an agreement between the royalist pro-military establishment and Thaksin.
The King of Thailand reduces former Prime Minister Thaksin’s prison sentence to at least one yr
The King of Thailand reduces former Prime Minister Thaksin’s prison sentence to at least one yr
Prime Minister from 2001 until a coup in 2006, Thaksin stays in power as patriarch of a family that has dominated Thai politics for twenty years, regardless that he was found guilty in absentia. Upon his return, he was imprisoned for eight years, and shortly after transferred to a police hospital after complaining of chest pain and hypertension.
“He was and probably still is the most popular prime minister in the history of Thai politics,” the Thai leader said of Thaksin, who is taken into account an influential figure in Srettha’s Pheu Thai party. “There are obviously good reasons for this and if he’s released, it could be unwise for me not to hunt his and other prime ministers’ views,” he said.
The latest prime minister is seen as a more acceptable alternative for Thailand’s conservative royalist establishment after the military-appointed Senate blocked Pita Limjaroenrat’s candidacy as prime minister as his reformist party pushed for a rest of the country’s law criminalizing insulting members of the royal family.
Thailand eases concerns over visa regime for Chinese visitors
Thailand eases concerns over visa regime for Chinese visitors
“I think this is a very, very stable government,” he said. It is less clear what role Thaksin might play in the brand new government. “Let’s play it by ear,” Srettha suggested.
