Yaowapa to let son decide whether to be Pheu Thai’s PM candidate
Yaowapa Wongsawat reveals that she will let her son, Prof Dr Yodchanan Wongsawat, decide whether to pursue politics as a potential PM candidate for Pheu Thai, offering her moral support if he chooses to enter the political arena.
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister, Yaowapa Wongsawat, visited him at the Klong Prem Central Prison, after which she revealed that she would allow her son to decide whether to enter politics as a prime ministerial candidate for the Pheu Thai Party.
Emerging from the prison, Yaowapa said Thaksin’s health was “OK, according to his condition.”
Yaowapa said she provided moral support to Thaksin, encouraging him to take care of his health, acknowledging that it was uncomfortable inside the prison.
She shared that Thaksin sang three songs when the prison held a concert featuring popular Thai rock singer Sek Loso for the inmates.
Yaowapa quoted Thaksin as saying he sang the first song on his own, and other inmates requested him to sing two more songs. However, she was uncertain whether Thaksin sang with Sek Loso or Seksan Sukpimai.
When reporters asked her to confirm the speculations that her son, Prof Dr Yodchanan Wongsawat, would become a PM candidate for Pheu Thai, she said that the Pheu Thai Party must discuss the issue with her son, as he was an adult who would make his own decision without her guidance.
Yaowapa added that if her son were interested in politics, she would provide him with moral support. However, she said she had not yet discussed the matter with him.
Yaowapa also stated that she no longer played a behind-the-scenes role at Pheu Thai, as she wanted to focus on taking care of Thaksin rather than overseeing the party’s affairs.
Yodchanan is the Vice President for Research at Mahidol University, Thailand. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering and previously served as the Director of the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (iNT) at Mahidol University.
He received his B.E. degree from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thailand, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington, USA, in 2003 and 2007, respectively.
