Thaksin Tweets ‘Chin up and Keep Moving Forward’

Panthongtae 'Oak' Shinawatra, at left, with his father Thaksin Shinawatra and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra in a photo subsequently deleted from his Instagram in February 2018.
Panthongtae 'Oak' Shinawatra, at left, with his father Thaksin Shinawatra and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra in a photo subsequently deleted from his Instagram in February 2018.

BANGKOK — Fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra tweeted words of encouragement to his supporters Saturday.

Telling them to “chin up” in English, Thaksin’s Saturday night tweet came one day after a political shocker he’s considered to have had a hand in that backfired. One day before, a political party aligned with his faction nominated Ubolratana Mahidol, a daughter of the late King Bhumibol to be prime minister, a move countermanded by Royal Command hours later.

“Chin up and keep moving forward! We learn from past experiences but live for today and the future. Cheer up! Life must go on!” he tweeted at 10:21pm local time.

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While his supporters took the message as a solace and a sign that he will continue to be a political force from exile, well-known writer and editor Suchart Sawatsri responded bitterly to the message saying.

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“Don’t need to preach that life must goes on. Over the past five years, people who oppose “the junta”, oppose “the coup” have been walking and stumbling along all by themselves.”

Others made more cryptic and humorous readings, saying it was an encoded order to support the newly founded Future Forward Party because the tweet contained two parts of its name.

Thaksin has lived in exile since his government was overthrown in a 2006 coup. He was subsequently convicted of corruption in a case he says was politically motivated. He is seen as the man behind the scenes of the Pheu Thai and affiliated parties, one of which, Thai Raksa Chart, nominated the former princess on Friday.