By Wong Chun Wai
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- The road leading to Thaksin Shinawatra’s opulent residence on the outskirts of Bangkok is a myriad of narrow alleys.
His sprawling Chan Song Lor mansion in Soi Charan Sanitwong 69 is located in the Bang Plat district, which is just a 30-minute drive from the city, even during the peak traffic hours at lunchtime.
I had expected his family home to be in a leafy neighbourhood with wide roads, but no one should expect conventionality from Thailand’s most controversial leader.
After 17 years of self-imposed exile, the political strongman is finally home, literally.
Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption stemming from his 2001-2006 tenure as Prime Minister. However, he received a royal pardon soon after his return to Thailand in 2023, which reduced the jail sentence to only one year.
Less than 24 hours after returning to Thai soil, he was sent from Bangkok Remand Prison to the Police General Hospital for medical treatment.
At 75, Thaksin no longer holds any political or government positions, but the media continues to refer to him as the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai Party.
With his daughter, Paetongtarn, as the country’s youngest PM at 38 years old, Thaksin is widely expected to shape the current government.
Even his detractors privately acknowledged that he continues to be a force to be reckoned with, his hands still pulling the strings. They admit that his influence extends outside Thailand, especially to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
His loyal supporters continue to insist that Thaksin has been a victim of political power play, which led to his exile.
“Do you know that I cannot do meditation? Each time I close my eyes, my mind goes off somewhere. I am always thinking of something.
“I am already up at 5.30 am. I do some exercise, have my breakfast, and by 9.30 am, I am working,’’ he quipped during our interview conducted at a holding room, which is lined with family photographs.
Thaksin understands that ASEAN countries are concerned with the gangs running the scam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border and in certain areas of Cambodia and Laos, which he described as “dirty money.’’
“It is this dirty money that is financing the fighting between the Myanmar junta and the many factions,” he said, explaining the complexities of the civil war, but said the fighting has to end.
Early this month, Paetongtarn ordered the power and telecom services cut to Shwe Kokko, a Myanmar town where thousands of people have been trafficked and forced to run online scams targeting victims around the world.
She had made the move on the eve of her trip to China, where she met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Thaksin said although the locals staying in such areas would be affected by such disruptions, it had to be done “as Thailand wants the local people to pressure these scam gangs to leave the place.”
On Feb 13, the Bangkok Post reported that Chinese businesses had deserted Payathonzu, a Myanmar border town adjacent to Kanchanaburi province in Thailand after power supplies were stopped.
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), which controls the area, reportedly ordered illicit businesses to leave by Feb 28. The disconnection of utility services from Thailand affected over 50,000 people in Payathonzu, the newspaper said.
Thaksin agreed that Myanmar is the “elephant in the room” for ASEAN, of which Malaysia now holds the chairmanship.
He has got down to work to assist and advise Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whom he described as a “good man with a sharp mind who sees things from a wide and detailed perspective.”
Saying Malaysia will do a good job as the regional bloc’s chairman, Thaksin said he has started to meet the various resistance group key leaders in efforts to resolve the ongoing armed conflict in Myanmar, which has raged for over three years.
The Thai media has reported that Thaksin had met leaders of the Shan State Reconstruction Council and Shan State Army in Chiangmai in March and April.
“They came with a long list of demands, but I told them to return with a shorter list, which must be pragmatic.
“The Myanmar junta also need to adopt a more inclusive approach to bring in these groups before talking of holding a general election, which may end up not being recognised. It will be a waste then,” he warned.
At the same time, Thaksin suggested that it would be good if ASEAN could “concede a little bit” if the army junta agreed to engage with the various ethnic groups.
He agreed with Anwar that all sides needed to engage in talks as a way of defusing the conflict.
Thaksin also said that he hoped to make a proposal and recommendations to ASEAN to start working towards adopting a cryptocurrency, adding that ASEAN nations must not miss the opportunity as United States President Donald Trump was expected to push for wider use.
“Trump has openly expressed his support for Bitcoin and other digital currencies, so ASEAN needs to study how we move forward so we do not get left behind,” he said.
Last month, Trump called for a working group to be set up tasked with proposing new digital asset regulations and explored the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile.
On the geopolitical rivalries between the US and China, Thaksin said ASEAN is aware of the complications but emphasised ASEAN has always maintained the need to be neutral.
“The US has been our ally for a long time, but China is our neighbour. It would be good if the US would engage more with ASEAN,” he replied when asked if Trump would show more interest in ASEAN this time.
Thaksin said ASEAN was a region with over 600 million people and a total gross domestic product (GDP) of over USD3 trillion, and certainly, it deserves attention.
-- BERNAMA
* The writer, Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, who has been a journalist for over 40 years, is currently the chairman of BERNAMA, the Malaysian National News Agency
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
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