Academics speculate that a current tweet by fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was a political ploy to garner support for the Pheu Thai Party, as pollsters predict it may lose votes to the more and more popular Move Forward Party (MFP) earlier than the General Election scheduled for May 14.
Yesterday, Thaksin tweeted that he would return to Thailand now that his seventh and youngest grandchild has been born as he desires to take care of them at the age of 73.
Thaksin expressed his delight on Twitter, sharing information that his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra had given delivery to his seventh grandchild, all of whom have been born after he left the country.
“I’d like to ask for permission to return to take care of the grandchildren as a outcome of I shall be seventy four years old this July. See you quickly.”
Paetongtarn, who is also a major ministerial candidate for the Pheu Thai Party, shared on Instagram that her son has been named Phruethasin Suksawat, with the nickname Thasin. She expressed gratitude for the moral support and stated her intention to meet the press quickly after recovering from the delivery.
However, Olarn Thinbangtieo, a political science lecturer at Burapha University, believes there could be a hidden political agenda behind Thaksin’s tweet, reported Bangkok Post.
Olarn stated Thaksin’s latest tweet might be linked to the waning reputation of the Pheu Thai Party, especially on social media, the place the MFP is gaining traction, notably in major cities like Bangkok.
“The MFP’s rising recognition will have an effect on Pheu Thai’s bid to realize a landslide victory in the ballot.”
He believes that Thaksin is stepping forward to garner sympathy from voters by expressing his want to return and deal with his grandchildren.
Private , dean of the law school at Dhurakij Pundit University, shared a similar view, asserting that Thaksin perceives the MFP’s rising popularity as a menace to Pheu Thai’s prospects.
He identified that there was no need for Thaksin to battle towards the MFP and other opposition events, as the MFP is already their rival.
Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a legislation lecturer at Thammasat University, advised that Thaksin’s latest tweet would encourage those who want him to return and vote for Pheu Thai. However, it might additionally compel those who dislike him to help the United Thai Nation Party (UTN), which has Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as its prime ministerial candidate.
In 2008, Thaksin was convicted for violating the National Counter Corruption Act within the Ratchadaphisek land buy case and sentenced to two years in jail by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions. He fled the nation that very same 12 months, just earlier than the court docket sentenced him, and subsequently jumped bail after attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games along with his then-wife in Beijing. They later divorced, and she or he returned to Thailand..