The big merit-making ceremony held each year to mark the birthday of Thaksin Shinawatra won't be held this year, a Pheu Thai Party member confirmed on Friday.
Thaksin Shinawatra supporters cut a birthday cake for him at Wat Kaew Fah in Nonthaburi province last year. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)
The ceremony at Wat Kaew Fah in Bang Kruai district in Nonthaburi on July 26 in past years has drawn hundreds of supporters of the former premier from the party, the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship and others.
The cancellation this year came as little surprise in light of the coup that ousted the Pheu Thai government in May.
Even Thaksin himself agreed to the cancellation, saying the coup-makers should be allowed to get on with their job of restoring democracy and holding new elections, said Singthong Buachum, who had organised the event for the past four years.
Mr Singthong, a former Bangkok MP, claimed that soldiers had visited the temple and asked the abbot not to stage the event. The abbot could not be reached for comment.
Another Pheu Thai source said Thaksin would celebrate his 65th birthday on July 26 in Paris.
Only relatives and close friends are expected to attend the celebration since many Pheu Thai Party politicians are still barred from travelling by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the source said.
The merit-making ceremony, which is also held to drive away any bad luck the deposed former premier is experiencing, drew hundreds of well-wishers in the past years. Last year Sermsak Pongpanich, who was then the deputy education minister, chaired the gathering.
Thaksin, who was ousted in an earlier coup in 2006, made a phone call to his supporters last year from Beijing complaining about his bad luck and called for reconciliation of all compatriots.
The call was made ahead of a Pheu Thai plan to push for an amnesty bill to parliament.
The bill turned out to be the beginning of the end for the party, as it triggered the start of months of mass rallies by former Democrat strongman Suthep Thaugsuban.
The inability of Mr Suthep's side and Thaksin supporters to find any common ground after six months of protests led to the decision by army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha to seize power on May 22.