NAKHON RATCHASIMA: The red shirts are preparing the red carpet for Thaksin Shinawatra when he returns to the northeastern province on Saturday for the first time in almost two decades.
Kowit Khorhenklang, a hard-core fan of the paroled former prime minister, said he expected 3,000 people to join Thaksin at Wat Sangkha Chinaram in Sida district on Saturday afternoon.
Thaksin will be at the temple for the cremation of Wichai Changlek, his loyal long-time driver, who died of an unknown cause at age 73.
Wichai’s last words to his family were a request to take his body home to Korat from Nonthaburi and keep it there for his boss to lead the religious ceremony, Toy Haemthasong, his sister, said on Friday.
The highlight of Thaksin’s trip will be in the city when he pays respects to the Thao Suranaree statue for the first time in 17 years.
Mr Kowit, a member of the red-shirt club in the province and a seller of Chinese pastries, has kept a picture of Thaksin at his shop since his last visit. “That shows Thaksin is still in my heart forever,” he said.
He said he and other red-shirt members in the province would be waiting for the ex-premier at the airport and would follow him throughout the day.
Kowit Khorhenklang, a hard-core fan of Thaksin Shinawatra, with a photo of the paroled former prime minister, says he and other red-shirt members in Nakhon Ratchasima will follow Thaksin throughout the day. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)
Panwadee Tantisirin, a red-shirt leader in Khon Kaen, said last week that more than 1,000 red shirts from the northeastern provinces would greet Thaksin at the temple on Saturday. “May 25 will be the day to show him love and loyalty,” she said.
The former prime minister will also be greeted in the municipality by Digital Economy and Society Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong, a Nakhon Ratchasima-based politician and party-list MP of the Pheu Thai Party, and other politicians including Suwat Liptapanlop, the Chart Pattana Party chairman.
He will fly to the province by private jet and return to Bangkok on the same day.
Thaksin has maintained a busy travel schedule since he was released on parole in February, after serving half of his one-year sentence at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok.
He has visited Chiang Mai and Phuket among other places. He has been seen frequently in the company of other politicians, even though one of the conditions of his parole is that he must not engage in “political” activity.