By Thai Newsroom Reporters
WHETHER OR NOT DE FACTO Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra would be released on bail in a lese majeste lawsuit next month might probably depend on his own action in near future, partisan sources said today (May 29).
If the billionaire, politically powerful Thaksin began to keep a low profile, literally staying put at his Chan Song Lah residence and refraining from going places to make his presence felt or fish for refreshed popularity among people, he would probably be granted a release on bail on June 18, according to the partisan sources who only spoke on condition of anonymity.
Thaksin, who had earlier managed to evade a court appearance to hear of a verdict delivered in absentia over power abuse, misconduct charges landing him an original, eight-year jail sentence which had been curtailed by royal pardon to one year, was more or less anticipated to work hard in hush-hush fashion to see to it that he be finally spared detention behind bars on June 18 – the date on which the Office of the Attorney-General is scheduled to bring him before the Criminal Court to hear the lese majeste charges filed against him.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss who claimed to be currently infected with Covid-19, thus keeping him from appearing at the OAG headquarters today to hear of the agency’s decision to proceed with the lese majeste lawsuit would quietly scramble to resume hush-hush talks with unnamed elements of the powers-that-be who might probably somehow help him out with his personal, legal battle, the sources said.
In 2009, the then-fugitive Thaksin allegedly mentioned the monarchy in association with the 2006 coup junta which deposed him from elected premiership during an interview with a news agency in Seoul.
Prior to his homecoming from 17 years of self-exile abroad last August, Thaksin had allegedly struck a “secret deal” with the powers-that-be to the extent that he return home without being literally thrown in jail and manipulate the jaw-dropping setup of a Pheu Thai-led coalition government from which the Move Forward be ultimately kept out.
“The powers-that-be would have desperately intended to have Thaksin keep the Move Forward at bay and set up the Pheu Thai-led coalition government in exchange for his freedom from jail but they would not have anticipated him occupying himself with varied government affairs, especially at policy level, as he has tampered with so far,” one partisan source said.
Nevertheless, the de facto Pheu Thai boss has been recently given a lesson to stop overplaying his political power to the extent that he might otherwise take hands-on action toward any policy-level government tasks of his choice, albeit in behind-the-scenes fashion.
Though Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is virtually viewed as a puppet pulled around by the de facto Pheu Thai boss, given the alleged, previous phenomenon in which the real estate tycoon-turned-prime minister was quietly pushed to power by Thaksin’s sister/deposed prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the de facto Pheu Thai boss would be strongly advised to stop tampering with government chores, albeit in clandestine manner, as if he had already turned into an “actual” head of government.
Thaksin’s “unanticipated” movements ranging from blatant visits to the provinces where high-ranking government officials gladly received him, informal talks with armed ethnic rebel groups fighting Myanmar government troops in Chiang Mai and a tete-a-tete talk with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Phuket, among other “private” activities, had significantly displeased and upset the powers-that-be, who were looking more or less to keep him under control, the sources said.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss had not only managed to keep himself from spending a single day behind bars due to a curtailed, one-year jail term but manipulated last year’s dumping of the Move Forward as the country’s largest elected party from a Pheu Thai-led alliance, the jaw-dropping setup of the Pheu Thai-led government, the allocation of cabinet portfolios among coalition partners and the naming of Pheu Thai-attached cabinet members, plus most certainly the naming of his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra as Pheu Thai leader.
Remarkably, the de facto Pheu Thai boss had allegedly pushed for the contentious naming of his former lawyer Pichit Chuenban as minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office which only resulted in his resignation under pressure and the Pheu Thai-attached prime minister being charged in an impeachment lawsuit by 40 senators most of whom being allegedly loyal to Palang Pracharath leader Prawit Wongsuwan for severely breaching the junta-designed constitution and code of political ethics since he was held accountable for the naming of Pichit among those in last month’s cabinet lineup, regardless of his lack of practical honesty or legal integrity.
“For instance, that Thaksin said he would not take revenge on those Prawit-associated senators obviously underlined the factual phenomenon in which he was controlling and overpowering the prime minister as if he himself was taking helm of government.
“Thaksin would ultimately be forced to keep a low profile and refrain himself from meddling with others in government or else he might probably be thrown in jail this time,” the partisan source said.
The Pheu Thai-attached Srettha is definitely bound to fight the impeachment lawsuit in the Constitutional Court which has spared him an order to otherwise suspend him from performing as prime minister, pending a court ruling on the case.
Pichit had been earlier found guilty of committing a contempt of the court with convicted involvement in an attempted payoff of two million baht in kickback cash literally contained in food bags and handed to Supreme Court administrative officials, thus costing him a six-month jail sentence and revocation of his lawyer’s licence.
CAPTIONS:
Top: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra flying back to Thailand in a private jet in August last year.
Front Page: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. Both photos: Thai Rath
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