Thaksin's return: a hero's welcome, a humble posture
- 16 years ago
After 17 months of self-exile abroad since ousted in a military coup, Thailand's ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was welcomed by supporters as a hero when he stepped out of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and kissed the soil of his motherland.
The airport, a mega-project whose completion was deemed one of the accomplishments of Thaksin's administration 2001-2005, was mobbed by thousands of Thaksin's supporters Thursday morning, among whom were farmers who had traveling several hundred kilometers from the north and northeast and taxi drivers and motorists in Bangkok, representing the staunchest group of supporters in urban and rural poor for Thaksin.
Though they failed to get a close glimpse of the ex-premier, who was tight escorted by security staff, aides and senior government officials, and surrounded by an army of reporters and cameramen on the frontline, their hail of his name and banners of "Thaksin Welcome Home" and "We Love Thaksin" got a smile and greeting by Thaksin. -- Xinhua
The airport, a mega-project whose completion was deemed one of the accomplishments of Thaksin's administration 2001-2005, was mobbed by thousands of Thaksin's supporters Thursday morning, among whom were farmers who had traveling several hundred kilometers from the north and northeast and taxi drivers and motorists in Bangkok, representing the staunchest group of supporters in urban and rural poor for Thaksin.
Though they failed to get a close glimpse of the ex-premier, who was tight escorted by security staff, aides and senior government officials, and surrounded by an army of reporters and cameramen on the frontline, their hail of his name and banners of "Thaksin Welcome Home" and "We Love Thaksin" got a smile and greeting by Thaksin. -- Xinhua