No plan to mobilise red shirts: Thaksin
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FUGITIVE former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday that he had no plans to mobilise red-shirt supporters, but called the first year of the military government "not so impressive".
Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail sentence handed down for graft in 2008, has rarely spoken about politics since the military toppled the remnants of the government led by his sister Yingluck a year ago.
Yingluck was removed from office days before the army staged a coup after months of protests in Bangkok. She has since been banned from politics for five years, and faces a possible jail term over her role in the costly rice-subsidy scheme.
Thaksin, who was in Seoul to speak at a conference, said there was no plan for his son Panthongtae “Oak” Shinawatra to take over leadership of the Pheu Thai Party.
He called on Thai people not to resort to violence.
“No, we want to see the government be a success, but it’s difficult, as you can imagine,” Thaksin said on the sidelines of the conference, when asked if there were any plans to mobilise red-shirt supporters.
“It’s not so impressive yet,” he said of the first year of the military government.
“They have to work harder.
“They have to understand the world, and the mentality of the people who have been in democracy for many years.
“I think democracy will prevail sooner or later, but we have to be patient, and we have to be peaceful,” he said.
“Don’t resort to any kind of violence.”
Junta leader and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said last week he was not worried about Thaksin’s public appearance or whatever comments he might make.
The military ousted Thaksin in 2006, exacerbating a sharp divide between his supporters in the poorer North and Northeast and the traditional royalist-military establishment in the capital and the South.
More than a decade of political strife has seen violent street protests from both Thaksin supporters and their opponents.
With bases in Dubai and London, Thaksin travels frequently in Asia.
