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NDTV
02-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
The Shinawatras: Thailand's 21st Century Political Clan
Thailand: 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 Shinawatr,a 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."
Bangkok Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Protest a worrying sign
The protest at Victory Monument on Saturday brought back memories of the last two street demonstrations which rocked the capital in recent years -- the protest organised by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) against then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the rallies held by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) against his sister, Yingluck. Both protests ultimately failed to remove the leaders from power. However, they paved the way for two military coups to happen -- the first was led by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, and the latest by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. On Saturday, Thai politics seemed to have come full circle, with old faces from the PDRC and PAD back to protesting on the streets, this time under the banner of the "Ruam Palang Paen Din Pok Pong Athipatai", or the United Power of the Land to Protect Sovereignty, group. Despite the heavy rain over the weekend, at least 10,000 people reportedly showed up to the peaceful rally to back the push to remove yet another prime minister from the Shinawatra family from office -- this time, Thaksin's daughter, Paetongtarn. The embattled PM is at the centre of the political crisis, which stemmed from the leaked recording of her conversation with former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, in which she could be heard promising to do what he wanted to de-escalate the situation along the border. If history is any indication, then this protest movement is destined to fail. Indeed, all street protests over the past two decades -- including those staged by the red shirts and the Democracy Restoration Group (DRG) -- failed to achieve their goal of booting the prime minister from office. However, the latest protest is a cause for concern. During the demonstration, veteran protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul told the crowds which gathered on Saturday that he wouldn't object "if the military does something". Equally worrying is the ultranationalist rhetoric which accompanied his coup-friendly attitude. At the protest, he encouraged the government to reclaim areas along the border which now belong to Cambodia. Such hardline rhetoric truly has no place in today's society. His comments faced a backlash from both the ruling coalition and the opposition, forcing the group to issue a statement to reassure the public that the group isn't calling for a military coup. This, however, isn't enough. To ensure peace, a political campaign or protest must be geared towards promoting democracy through inclusive dialogue and educating the public about the need for a democratic solution and just policies. In fact, Mr Sondhi's remarks spoiled the group's political momentum. The Pheu Thai Party and People's Party have officially blasted the group, accusing it of trying to overthrow the government and undermine democracy by calling for a military putsch. The war of words which followed Saturday's protest suggests Thai politics is about to reach a dead end once more. Street protests and political rhetoric will not bring about real change and improvement. The leaders of all protest movements must remember that people -- regardless of their political inclinations -- turn to street protest because they lack trust in their elected lawmakers. To prevent violent street protests or even a military coup, lawmakers and political parties must work to show that they exist to protect public interests, not their own political goals. Without trust, the centre will not hold.
France 24
19-06-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Thai PM faces growing calls to quit in Cambodia phone row
The coalition government led by Shinawatra's Pheu Thai party is on the brink of collapse, throwing the kingdom into a fresh round of political instability as it seeks to boost its spluttering economy and avoid US President Donald Trump's swingeing trade tariffs. The conservative Bhumjaithai party, Pheu Thai's biggest partner, pulled out on Wednesday saying Paetongtarn's conduct in the leaked call had wounded the country and the army's dignity. Losing Bhumjaithai's 69 MPs leaves Paetongtarn with barely enough votes to scrape a majority in parliament, and a snap election looks a clear possibility -- barely two years after the last one in May 2023. Two coalition parties, the United Thai Nation and Democrat Party, will hold urgent meetings to discuss the situation later on Thursday. Losing either would likely mean the end of Paetongtarn's government and either an election or a bid by other parties to stitch together a new coalition. Resignation calls The Palang Pracharath party, which led the government up to 2023 and is headed by General Prawit Wongsuwan -- who supported a coup against Paetongtarn's aunt Yingluck -- called for the premier to resign. The party's statement said the leaked recording showed Paetongtarn was weak and inexperienced, and incapable of managing the country's security. "This already has proved that Thailand has a leader who will lead the country to a bad situation and weakness," the statement said. Another opposition party, Thai Sang Thai, also called for Paethongtarn to step down, saying her conversation with Hun Sen had damaged the kingdom's sovereignty and the army. In the leaked phone call, Paetongtarn is heard discussing an ongoing border dispute with Hun Sen -- who stepped down as Cambodian prime minister in 2023 after four decades but still wields considerable influence. She addresses the veteran leader as "uncle" and refers to the Thai army commander in the country's northeast as her opponent, a remark that sparked fierce criticism on social media, particularly on Pheu Thai page and Royal Thai Army page. Thailand's armed forces have a long played a powerful role in the kingdom's politics, and politicians are usually careful not to antagonise them. The kingdom has had a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and the current crisis has inevitably triggered rumours that another may be in the offing. If she is ousted she would be the third member of her family, after her aunt Yingluck and father Thaksin Shinawatra, to be kicked out of office by the army. Awkward coalition Paetongtarn, 38, came to power in August 2024 at the head of an uneasy coalition between Pheu Thai and a group of conservative, pro-military parties whose members have spent much of the last 20 years battling against her father. Growing tensions within the coalition erupted into open warfare in the past week as Pheu Thai tried to take the interior minister job away from Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul. The loss of Bhumjaithai leaves Pheu Thai's coalition with just a handful more votes than the 248 needed for a majority. The battle between the conservative pro-royal establishment and Thaksin's political movement has dominated Thai politics for more than 20 years. Former Manchester City owner Thaksin, 75, still enjoys huge support from the rural base whose lives he transformed with populist policies in the early 2000s. But he is despised by Thailand's powerful elites, who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and socially destabilising. Thaksin returned to Thailand in 2023 as Pheu Thai took power after 15 years in self-exile overseas. The current Pheu Thai-led government has already lost one prime minister, former businessman Srettha Thavisin, who was kicked out by a court order last year, bringing Paetongtarn to office.
Yomiuri Shimbun
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Thailand's Ex-Prime Minister Yingluck Ordered to Pay for Losses from a Rice Subsidy Program
AP file photo Former Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra talks to reporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court for last day of the hearing in Bangkok, Thailand, July 21, 2017. BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Thursday ordered exiled former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay more than 10 billion baht ($304 million) to compensate for losses incurred by a money-losing rice farming subsidy program that her administration had implemented more than a decade ago. The Supreme Administrative Court partially reversed a 2021 court ruling that cleared her. It found her guilty of severe negligence in relation to rice sales to other countries and said she failed to act on many government agencies' warnings of possible corruption. She was ordered to pay half of the damages estimated at more than 20 billion baht ($608 million). The court annulled a 2016 order by the Finance Ministry for her to pay 35.7 billion baht ($1.1 billion) in compensation, saying Yingluck was not proven directly responsible for the alleged corruption. The rice subsidy program was a flagship policy that helped Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party win the 2011 general election. Under the program, the government paid farmers about 50% more than they would have received on the global market, with the intention of driving up prices by warehousing the grain. But other rice-producing countries captured the international rice market by selling at competitive prices. Thailand as a result lost its position as the world's leading rice exporter and large amounts of rice sat unsold in government warehouses. After the ruling, Yingluck posted on her Facebook page that she had no intention to cause damages and was being held responsible 'for a debt I did not cause.' Her lawyer Norrawit Larlaeng said her legal team plans to request a retrial. He said that the government had already sold the leftover rice from the subsidy program for around 200 billion baht ($6.08 billion), which covers all damages estimated by the Finance Ministry. Yingluck, the first female prime minister of Thailand, came to power in 2011, five years after her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled in a coup and fled abroad. Yingluck also was forced out by a military coup in 2014, and fled the country in 2017, ahead of a court verdict. She's been living in exile since then. Thaksin, a highly popular but divisive political figure, returned home in 2023 before being granted clemency in a corruption trial because of his age and health. Thailand's current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is Thaksin's daughter. Last year, Yingluck was cleared by a court on unrelated charges of mishandling funds for a government project in 2013. In December 2023, the court also cleared her of abuse of power in connection with a personnel transfer she had overseen.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Thai Ex-PM Yingluck Ordered To Pay $305 Million In Damages Over Rice Scheme
Bangkok: A Thai court on Thursday ordered self-exiled former premier Mrs. Yingluck Shinawatra to pay 10 billion baht ($305 million) in damages over a botched rice pledging scheme that saw her sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison for negligence. Mrs. Yingluck, one of four members of the billionaire Shinawatra family to have served as prime minister, has been living overseas to avoid jail for failing to prevent corruption in the rice scheme, which paid farmers up to 50% above market prices and caused massive losses to the state. The programme, a flagship policy of her populist Pheu Thai party, cost the state billions of dollars and led to millions of tons of rice going unsold. Thailand is the world's second-largest rice exporter. Thursday's ruling was on Yingluck's appeal against a previous order to pay 35 billion baht ($1.07 billion) in damages to the finance ministry. "The accused performed duties with gross negligence that caused damage to the state and therefore must pay compensation," the Supreme Administrative Court said, adding the previous order exceeded the legal threshold of her responsibility and was unlawful. Mrs. Yingluck, 57, came to power in 2011 after a landslide election victory and resigned just days before her government was ousted in a coup in 2014. She is the aunt of current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and younger sister of former premier and political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra. Thursday's verdict comes less than two years after her family's Pheu Thai party returned to power after a decade in the political wilderness, coinciding with influential brother Thaksin coming home after 15 years in self-exile to avoid jail. The Shinawatras have consistently denied wrongdoing and have long maintained they have been victims of political vendettas by powerful figures in the conservative establishment and royalist military. Yingluck on Thursday said the order to pay 10 billion baht was excessive. "Even if I repaid it my entire life, it would never be enough," she said on social media. "I will continue to demand and fight for justice." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
