Thaksin Shinawatra's entry into politics

Political debut as Foreign Minister in the first Chuan government

Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....

entered politics in late 1994 under the invitation of Chamlong Srimuang

Chamlong Srimuang

Major General Chamlong Srimuang is a controversial Thai activist and former politician. A former general, he was a leader of the "Young Turks" military clique, founded and led the Phalang Dharma party, served for six years as governor of Bangkok, led the anti-military uprising of May 1992, and...

, who had just reclaimed the position of Palang Dharma Party (PDP) leader from Boonchu Rojanastien

Boonchu Rojanastien

Boonchu Rojanastien was a Thai-Chinese banker. Touted as Thailand's first "economics tsar", he served in the government of Kukrit Pramoj in 1975 and 1976...

. In a subsequent purge of Boonchu-affiliated PDP Cabinet ministers, Thaksin was appointed Foreign Minister in December 1994, replacing Prasong Soonsiri

Prasong Soonsiri

Prasong Soonsiri is a Thai politician, and former Royal Thai Air Force squadron leader, Thai Foreign Minister, and head of the Thai National Security Council. Prasong has been a long-time critic of Thaksin Shinawatra since Thaksin's entry into politics in 1994...

.

The PDP soon withdrew from the government over the Sor Por Kor 4-01 land reform corruption scandal, causing the government of Chuan Leekpai

Chuan Leekpai

Chuan Leekpai was the Prime Minister of Thailand from September 20, 1992 to May 19, 1995 and again from November 9, 1997 to February 9, 2001. A third-generation Thai Chinese, Chuan was born in Trang province in a grass-roofed house. The walls of his family's house were woven from strips of...

to collapse.

PDP leader and Deputy Prime Minister in the Banharn government

Chamlong, strongly criticized for mishandling internal PDP politics in the last days of the Chuan-government, retired from politics and hand-picked Thaksin as new PDP leader. Thaksin ran for election for the first time in July 1995, winning a parliamentary seat from Bangkok. However, the weakened and internally divided PDP won only 23 seats, compared to 46 in the 1992 elections.

Thaksin joined the government of Banharn Silpa-acha and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Bangkok traffic. In May 1996, Thaksin and 4 other PDP ministers quit the Banharn Cabinet (while retaining their MP seats) to protest widespread allegations of corruption, prompting a Cabinet reshuffle. Many have claimed that Thaksin's move was designed to help give Chamlong Srimuang a boost in the June 1996 Bangkok Governor elections, which Chamlong returned from retirement to contest. Chamlong lost the election - he and incumbent Governor former PDP-member Krisda Arunwongse na Ayudhya were defeated by Pichit Rattakul, an independent.

Chamlong's failure to buttress the PDP's failing power base in Bangkok amplified internal divisions in the PDP, particularly between Chamlong's "temple" faction and Thaksin's faction. Soon afterwards, Chamlong announced he was retiring again from politics.

Thaksin and the PDP pulled out of the Banharn-government in August 1996. In a subsequent no-confidence debate, the PDP gave evidence against the Banharn government. Soon afterwards, Banharn dissolved Parliament in September 1996.

Fall of the PDP

Thaksin announced that he would not run in the subsequent November 1996 elections, but would remain as leader of the PDP. He claimed that he wanted to devote his energies to campaigning for political reform and supporting other PDP candidates. Some speculated that Thaksin wanted to resign from the party leadership. The PDP suffered a fatal defeat in the elections, winning only 1 seat in Parliament. The PDP soon imploded, with most members resigning. However, the PDP is still in existence, with a different leadership and an insignificant presence in the political sphere.

Although there was much controversy about the root causes of the fall of the PDP, most agree that it was due to internal divisions in the party. Particularly divisive were conflicts between the Chamlong "temple" faction and subsequent generations of outsiders, including Thaksin.

Deputy Prime Minister in the Chavalit government

On 15 August 1997, Thaksin was invited to become Deputy Prime Minister in Chavalit Yongchaiyudh

Chavalit Yongchaiyudh

General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh is a Thai politician and retired general. He was Thailand's 22nd Prime Minister from 1996 to 1997. He is of Sino-Thai and ethnic Lao descent....

's government. This occurred soon after the Thai Baht was floated and devalued in 2 July 1997, sparking the Asian Financial Crisis. Thaksin held this position for only 3 months, leaving on November 14 after Chavalit resigned.

During an unsuccessful censure debate on 27 September 1997, Democrat Suthep Thaugsuban

Suthep Thaugsuban

Suthep Thaugsuban is a Thai politician, and Member of Parliament for Surat Thani province...

accused Thaksin of profiting on insider information about the government's decision to float the Baht. However, this accusation was not investigated during the subsequent Democrat or TRT governments
During 1997, Thaksin's flagship company AIS suffered 1.8 billion THB in foreign exchange losses and saw its debt more than double due to the devaluation. However, critics have alleged that Thaksin's businesses suffered much less from the devaluation than rival companies.

Formation of the Thai Rak Thai Party and the 2001 elections

Thaksin founded the Thai Rak Thai

Thai Rak Thai

The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party that was officially banned on May 30, 2007, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand due to violations of electoral laws during the 2006 legislative elections. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under Prime Minister and its founder Thaksin...

("Thais Love Thais" - TRT) party in 1998 along with Somkid Jatusripitak

Somkid Jatusripitak

Somkid Jatusripitak , Chinese: 曾汉光, Thai politician, is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of Thailand. He was a leader and cofounder of the populist Thai Rak Thai party. His wife, Anurachanee Jatusripitak, teaches at Chulalongkorn University...

, PDP ally Sudarat Keyuraphan

Sudarat Keyuraphan

Sudarat Keyuraphan is a Thai politician and the deputy leader of the Thai Rak Thai party. She served as the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand in the Thai Rak Thai government until its ousting in the September 2006 coup.Born in Bangkok, Sudarat is a graduate of Chulalongkorn...

, Purachai Piumsombun, and 19 others.

With a populist platform often attributed to Somkid

Somkid Jatusripitak

, TRT promised universal access to healthcare, a 3-year debt moratorium for farmers, and 1 million THB locally-managed development funds for all Thai villages.

After Prime Minister Chuan dissolved parliament in November 2000, TRT won a sweeping victory in the January 2001 elections

Thailand legislative election, 2001

General elections were held in Thailand on January 6, 2001. 500 seats in the House of Representatives were at stake...

, the first election held under the People's Constitution of 1997. It was called the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history. Thai Rak Thai won parliamentary 248 seats (more than any other party previously) and needed only 3 more seats to form a government. Nonetheless, Thaksin opted for a broad coalition with the Chart Thai Party

Chart Thai Party

Thai Nation Party , also known as Chart Thai, was a conservative political party in Thailand. It was dissolved by the Constitutional Court of Thailand on December 2, 2008, along with the People's Power Party and the Matchima party, for having violated electoral laws in the Thai general election, 2007...

(41 seats) and the New Aspiration Party (36 seats), while absorbing the smaller Seritham Party (14 seats).

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