Thaksin Shinawatra said on Friday that he was happy to reunite with his family, in what was his first public comment since being released on parole last month.
“Happiness depends on family,” the former prime minister told reporters before adding, in English, “Happiness is at home.”
He made the comments as he and family members attended a ceremony to pay respects to his parents at a cemetery in Mae On district in Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is also Thaksin’s political home, a fact underscored by a dinner gathering on Friday evening that featured three prime ministers: Thaksin (2001-06), his brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat, who led a short-lived government in 2008; and Srettha Thavisin, who occupies the post at present.
Mr Srettha arrived in Chiang Mai on Friday to study ways to reduce the toxic dust pollution plaguing the North, and Thaksin was quick to offer some advice.
The problem will persist if people continue burning farm and forest land, he said. He proposed banning imports from companies identified as polluters, particularly those purchasing crops from farmers who exacerbate air pollution.
Thaksin’s fellow diners at Summit Green Valley Golf Course on Friday evening included Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow from the Palang Pracharath Party, and Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat from the Pheu Thai Party.
Thaksin said earlier that he had felt depressed during the six months he spent at Police General Hospital, but his return to his family when his parole was approved helped him heal.
“I am feeling better,” he told reporters, speaking in a northern Thai dialect and wearing a neck and back brace.
Market love-in
“We love Thaksin. We love Thaksin,” thousands of people chanted earlier in the day after Thaksin arrived at Waroros Market.
The most popular market in the northern city was packed by supporters who had waited to greet him for his first return to his home province in 17 years. He is scheduled to return to Bangkok on Saturday.
The chants continued as he walked inside the market, while bodyguards cleared the way for him to get up close and have a chance for selfies with fans.
The former police officer turned telecoms tycoon was accompanied by family members, including his youngest daughter, Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn.
Many invited him to stop at their shops. “Mr Prime Minister, this way please,” they called out.
“I am ecstatic,” said a seller of thong muan, a Thai rolled wafer, after Thaksin bought 10 packs from her.
The visit to the market followed a trip to pay homage to the Doi Suthep Stupa, a landmark where he was also welcomed by supporters waiting for him at the temple.
Other places on Friday’s itinerary included a visit to the cemetery of his parents in Mae On district, and a trip to Wat Rong Tham Samakkee in San Kamphaeng district to pay respects to ashes kept in a family gravesite.
The 74-year-old former Manchester City owner received the green light from the Probation Department to travel to Chiang Mai after a request to seek alternative medical treatment and pay respects to his ancestors.
He is still on parole due to his age and reportedly multiple illnesses, although he did not spend a single day in jail after returning to serve his sentence in August last year.
Those health concerns were cited when prison officials approved his transfer to Police General Hospital just hours after his sentence officially began.
Political motives
Political pundits interpreted the visit as having political purposes, especially after Pheu Thai was swept aside by the Move Forward Party in the general election last year. Pheu Thai won only two of Chiang Mai’s 10 seats, while Move Forward gained seven and Palang Pracharath gained one.
“I think Thaksin wants to use Chiang Mai to rebuild a direct connection with supporters in the province by bypassing the party and MPs,” Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch and former political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, told Voice TV.
One group of supporters who did not get a chance to see Thaksin were local red-shirt activists who gathered near of Chiang Mai University. They wanted the former PM to help seek justice for the dozens of red shirts killed during the pro-Thaksin protests that turned violent in 2010.
They had arrived with a red coffin on the back of a pickup truck, but police vehicles blocked the way and their protest could not be seen from the vehicles in Thaksin’s motorcade, witnesses said.
- Commentary: The Thaksin factor in Thai politics
