HONG KONG - Ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra staged a dramatic return to Thailand from a 17-month exile on Thursday. Amid the tears and cheers of his supporters, Thaksin is set to continue to draw the nation's attention.
Thousands of supporters, with flowers and "We love Thaksin" banners, waited for hours until the former prime minister emerged from the Bangkok international airport VIP lounge slightly after 10 a.m. With tears in his eyes, Thaksin knelt down, kissed the ground, touching it with his forehead, then clasped his palms in front of his chin, saluting to his country with a traditional greeting, "Wai." Within moments, the telecoms billionaire was surrendered by police and escorted in a motorcade of limousines to the Supreme Court. Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, are facing charges of corruption in connection with the purchase of prime real estate in the Ratchadaphisek district of Bangkok from a state agency in 2003, while Thaksin was prime minister. Thaksin also faces separate charges of concealing assets. Upon his Supreme Court appearance, he was released on bail of 8 million baht ($268,246) and barred from leaving the country. The court also scheduled the first hearing of the case for March 12, according to the Thai government news service. Thaksin was unseated in a bloodless coup in September 2006 by military leaders while he was in New York attending a U.N. General Assembly meeting. His populist policies had gained him a huge following in the countryside but upset the traditional power structure based in the capital. He lived in London and Hong Kong during his exile, placing himself in media spotlight amid the battle for Britain's Manchester City soccer club and in his acquisition of a luxurious Hong Kong mansion. Thais had been expecting the return of their former leader since the pro-Thaksin People's Power Party won 233 out of 480 seats in a parliamentary election on Dec 23. Two days after the election, Thaksin signaled to reporters in Hong Kong his time frame for a homecoming: between February, when a newly elected coalition government was expected to form, and April, at the latest. (See: " Thaksin Hints At Homecoming") The victory of the PPP was seen as a public rebuke of the junta, which made some serious missteps in economic policy. The military administration had imposed sudden capital controls in late 2006, triggering the biggest ever one-day sell-off on Bangkok stock market. All eyes are now watching whether Thaksin will become the shadow prime minister behind the PPP's nominal leader, Samak Sundaravej, Thaksin's ally, who campaigned on a promise to bring him home. Before he left Hong Kong, Thaksin denied the widespread rumors that he would seek to run the country again. "Enough is enough," he pledged. In a press conference held in Bangkok Thursday afternoon, Thaksin, accompanied by his family, stated once more he would stay away from the political stage. Nevertheless, Surapong Suebwonglee, the newly appointed finance minister, had said earlier he would appoint Thaksin as his adviser to help in drafting economic policies. Surapong, a member of Thaksin's inner circle and a medical doctor who used to operate a chain of weight-control clinics, has more experience in trimming waistlines than in making the types of tough decisions the country needs in the face of the present global economic turbulence. Finding coherence will be a major problem for the new six-party coalition government led by People's Power Party. The return of Thaskin is has led to widespread anticipation of a renewed battle between him and the traditional elite, which will test the country's political stability.
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