Thai Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra Postpones Return from Self-exile

Bangkok: Thai former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday he was postponing his return from self-exile as Thailand struggles to overcome a political deadlock after the general election in May was won by opponents of military-backed parties.

Thaksin, a former telecom tycoon who became prime minister in 2001 and ousted by the military in 2006, has towered over Thailand's politics despite having lived in self-imposed exile since 2008 to avoid graft convictions which he said were politically motivated after his government were ousted in a 2006 coup.

On Saturday, Thaksin said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he needed a medical check up and would delay his return, originally planned for Aug. 10, by "a couple of weeks".

Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai Party came second in the May election after the progressive Move Forward Party.

The two election winning parties have been trying to form a government with six like-minded partners but have been blocked by the Senate, dominated by military appointees, and conservative opponents.

Earlier this week, Pheu Thai took the lead in trying to form a government without Move Forward, whose own attempts to form a government met with relentless opposition from the pro-military conservatives alarmed by its reform agenda.

The constitution, drafted during military rule, requires a joint sitting of the elected Lower House and the appointed Senate to vote for a prime minister.