25-YEAR BATTLE
Paetongtarn’s case and her father’s trial are the latest round in a bitter 25-year arm wrestle between Thailand’s traditional conservative, pro-military, pro-royalist elite and parties linked to Thaksin.
Thaksin was twice elected prime minister in the early 2000s and is still loved by many of the rural voters whose lives were changed by his policies.
But the establishment has long despised him as corrupt, nepotistic and a threat to the kingdom’s long-established social order.
Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006, his sister Yingluck Shinawatra suffered the same fate in 2014 and other prime ministers from their political movement have been sacked by court rulings.
After 15 years abroad, Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023.
He was immediately ordered to serve an eight-year jail term for historic graft and abuse of power charges, but was taken to hospital on health grounds and later pardoned by the king.
That sequence of events has prompted a separate judicial probe into whether he got special treatment, and Thaksin’s regular public appearances seem to have riled his old foes.
“His enemies never disappear – they are still there, while new enemies have emerged and friends become enemies,” Paradorn Pattanatabut, a former secretary general of the National Security Council, told AFP.
In a country which has seen a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, the latest crisis has sparked speculation about another possible military intervention to oust Paetongtarn.
Tub-thumping posts on military-affiliated Facebook pages voicing vehement support for the army after Paetongtarn’s leaked call have added fuel to the fire.
But a security source told AFP that a conventional tanks-in-the-street coup was both difficult and unnecessary, given the potential to stage a “silent coup” through the courts or other bodies such as the election commission.
Wanwichit Boonprong from Rangsit University agreed, saying this kind of “stealth authoritarianism” was more effective.
To add further spice to the mix, on Saturday a group of political activists involved in huge demonstrations that helped sink previous governments has pledged to hold a major rally calling for Paetongtarn to quit.
