PHNOM PENH – Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra appeared in Cambodia last Saturday to celebrate the birthday of the nation’s leader, after delaying a return to his home country amid political turmoil.
The 74-year-old, who has lived in self-imposed exile for 15 years, visited the neighbouring nation, ruled by strongman leader Hun Sen, to celebrate the Premier’s 71st birthday, according to local news reports.
Fresh News – an online news outlet with close links to Mr Hun Sen – cited the Premier as saying that Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra spent a night at the leader’s residence in the capital Phnom Penh after attending his birthday party, and posted pictures of the event.
The duo left Cambodia on Sunday morning, the report said, without stating their next destination.
The visit took place on the same day Thaksin announced he would postpone his return to Thailand by about two weeks from an originally planned date of Aug 10, citing the need to do a health check-up.
The political party his family backs, Pheu Thai Party, is struggling to form the country’s next government after opposition from military-appointed lawmakers scuttled attempts by its former ally to do so.
Thaksin remains a popular but polarising politician in Thailand after being ousted in 2006 by a military coup. He has lived overseas since fleeing the country in 2008 to avoid corruption charges, shuttling between Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and London.
Since leaving Thailand, he has been found guilty in absentia in several graft cases that he says are politically motivated. He faces a combined 10 years in prison from three cases if he returns.
Thaksin said in May that he would enter the justice process upon his return and that he did not want an amnesty from jail terms – something previously attempted by a government headed by Yingluck in 2013 before it, too, was toppled in 2014 by a coup. His daughter, Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra, is one of three prime ministerial candidates in Pheu Thai.
In contrast, Mr Hun Sen in Cambodia has spent nearly four decades in power, with his party claiming a landslide victory in elections in July after the main opposition party was barred from running.
Cambodia’s King on Monday approved the nomination of his son, Mr Hun Manet, to become the country’s next premier. BLOOMBERG
