With politicians pouring in to greet him, a dinner with Thailand’s prime minister and a police escort to places he went, billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra (pic) looked more like a statesman this weekend than a convicted criminal on parole.
Loyalists, Cabinet ministers and lawmakers flew to his hometown of Chiang Mai to visit and consult Thaksin, projecting an image of power for a tycoon who loomed large over politics throughout his 15 years in self-exile to skip jail for abuse of power and conflicts of interest.
