By Thai Newsroom Reporters
PHEU THAI LEADER PAETONGTARN Shinawatra has accepted an invitation from former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen to pay an informal visit to Phnom Penh next month.
The Cambodian People’s Party posted on its Facebook page to confirm Paetongtarn, daughter of de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole Thaksin Shinawatra, will lead a group of executive officials of the ruling Thai party to Cambodia on March 18 and 19.
The invitation has been finally accepted though the earlier-scheduled trip has been put off from March 14 and 15.
Hun Sen extended his invitation for Paetongtarn’s return visit during his informal visit to her father at Chan Song Lah residence on Wednesday, apparently making him the first guest of the de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict who was granted parole last week.
Hun Sen posted on his Facebook page to express his admiration for a 32-year-long friendship between the two former prime ministers.
The Pheu Thai leader is scheduled to meet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, son of the former one, among others in Phnom Penh.
On a six-month parole condition, Thaksin is not legally allowed to leave the country after half of his curtailed, one-year sentence has been literally served at a hospital in lieu of a prison under an excuse of mystery-shrouded “critical illnesses.”
The former Cambodian prime minister had reportedly done favours to the Shinawatra family. In 2009, Hun Sen snubbed his former Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva’s formal request for him to return the Phnom Penh-visiting Thaksin to Thailand on criminal extradition grounds to face misconduct charges.
In 2017, Thaksin’s sister/deposed prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was clandestinely escorted to safety whilst slipping out of Thailand into Cambodian territory via a shared border path in the face of a court verdict delivered against her.
CAPTIONS:
Top: A photo published by Khmer Times showing former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, left, and Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, right, with the letter she sent accepting his invitation to visit Cambodia in between.
Front Page: Former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen shared this photo on Facebook showing him visiting de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra with his daughter/party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra also joining the talks. Credit: Phnom Pehn Post
