Thailand's Most Divisive Family May Have No More Moves Left
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin's youngest daughter, was temporarily suspended from office until the court rules on a petition seeking her ouster for alleged ethical violations, over the handling of a long-running border dispute with neighbor Cambodia.
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The Shinawatras: Thailand's 21st century political clan
Thailand's billionaire Shinawatra dynasty has dominated the kingdom's politics for 25 years, but its rule has been hit by coups and court cases including this week's suspension of the prime minister. Thaksin Shinawatra amassed a telecoms fortune before driving the family's entry into politics, elected to power in 2001 and again in 2005 -- when he led the first Thai party ever to secure an overall majority alone. His populist policies won the devotion of rural voters but the ire of the pro-monarchy, pro-military establishment who regarded him as an insurgent threat to the traditional social order. The patriarch was ousted in a 2006 coup, but Thai politics has remained dominated by jousting between his Shinawatra clan successors and Bangkok's tradition-orientated elite. Thaksin's sister Yingluck became prime minister in 2011, regarded by many as his stooge, before she was likewise forced out by the military. - Founding father - Thaksin served as a police officer before making his fortune and launching his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, promising to use his business savvy to uplift rural areas. He became the first Thai premier to serve a full term after his 2001 victory, and was re-elected in a landslide by villagers grateful for cash injections amid the Asian financial crisis. But Thaksin was dogged by corruption allegations and months of protests. While he was on an overseas trip in September 2006 tanks rolled into Bangkok and the military toppled his government. Despite his Thai assets being frozen the following year, he purchased Manchester City and later sold the British football club for a sizeable profit. Thaksin took himself into exile in 2008 but never stopped commenting on national affairs -- or, according to his critics, meddling in them. - A family affair - Thai Rak Thai was dissolved after the coup ousting Thaksin, but its successor People's Power party won the next election, and in 2008 Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat was briefly prime minister before the courts ordered it dismantled too. It evolved into the Pheu Thai (For Thais) party, which brought Thaksin's sister Yingluck to power in 2011. Yingluck was pilloried as a political lightweight armed with little more than a winning smile and a hotline to her elder brother -- who once referred to her as his "clone". She reached out to the military which had ousted her brother, but their shaky truce collapsed after a failed bid to pass an amnesty bill which would have enabled Thaksin's return. The move outraged government opponents who flooded the streets for months-long protests marked by violence, with dozens killed and hundreds wounded. Yingluck's premiership was scuttled in 2014 by a court ruling and weeks later the military shunted aside the rest of her administration. - Inheriting influence - Thaksin subsequently threw his weight behind his youngest child Paetongtarn Shinawatra as she took up the Pheu Thai mantle, transferring from a career in the hotel arm of the family's business empire. She was pregnant during the 2023 election campaign but was a near-constant presence, regularly leading rallies in stifling tropical heat. Pheu Thai finished second, but secured power by forming an unsteady alliance with their former enemies in pro-military parties, and Paetongtarn was appointed prime minister last August. Much like Yingluck, the 38-year-old Paetongtarn has been accused of being a puppet of Thaksin. The Constitutional Court suspended her from office on Tuesday while it probes her actions during a diplomatic spat with Cambodia. - Return to division - While in exile in Dubai, Thaksin pledged repeatedly to return to Thailand despite being convicted on graft and abuse-of-power charges in his absence. He went back on the day Pheu Thai took power, prompting speculation he had been granted leniency as part of the coalition bargain. He was immediately arrested and sentenced to eight years in jail, but was whisked to a police hospital within hours on health grounds. Thaksin was later pardoned by the king without spending any time in prison. He went on trial Tuesday for royal defamation, with a 15-year sentence possible if convicted. The clan's future is now increasingly murky, said Thai political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak. "The Shinawatra family has been systematically weakened to the point that its mass appeal in Thai politics has worn off." bur-sjc-jts/slb/rsc
