Bangkok: 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.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, 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.
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.
On February 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 February 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.
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. 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.