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Thailand election 2023
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Thai ex-PM Thaksin seen in video at Cambodian leader Hun Sen’s birthday party

  • Just a day earlier he had said he would delay plans to return to Thailand following years of self-imposed exile
  • His appearance comes at a politically sensitive time as the party he is affiliated with seeks support for a member to become prime minister

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Outgoing Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, gives a souvenir to former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on Saturday. Photo: AP
Associated Press

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra attended a birthday party for outgoing Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Phnom Penh, according to video posted online on Sunday, a day after Thaksin said he would delay plans to return to Thailand following years of self-imposed exile.

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Thaksin’s appearance in Cambodia came at a politically sensitive time in neighbouring Thailand, as Pheu Thai, the latest in a string of parties affiliated with Thaksin, is seeking to win enough support in Parliament for one of its members to become the next prime minister almost three months after a general election in May.
Thaksin said on Saturday on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he would delay a planned return to Thailand next Thursday for “no longer than two weeks,” citing a doctor’s appointment.

His daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who campaigned for prime minister with Pheu Thai in the latest election, had said nearly two weeks ago her father would return to Thailand on August 10.

Thailand has faced an unexpectedly difficult time in selecting a new prime minister after the progressive Move Forward Party, which seeks reforms in several areas, including a controversial law that strictly forbids defamation of the royal family, emerged as a surprise winner in the May 14 polls. Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat failed in an initial bid last month to have Parliament name him the new prime minister.

Thaksin was elected Thailand’s prime minister in 2001 and easily reelected in 2005, but was ousted by a military coup in 2006. He was accused of corruption and abuse of power and of disrespecting the country’s monarchy.

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