“I’ll come back for sure. I’ll definitely come back,” said Thaksin in a Tuesday night (July 19) ClubHouse chat post under his alias Tony Woodsome.
Thaksin, who posts messages on the platform on a regular basis, also poked fun at Gen Prayut, saying he appeared to be thinking about him all the time, reports the Bangkok Post.
“If he asks where I am, I’ll say I’m always on his mind. When reporters ask him... or when there is a parliament debate, I’m the first on his mind,” said the fugitive prime minister.
Thaksin called on the prime minister to have a firm strategy and said he was willing to give advice.
His comments came after Prayut challenged the Pheu Thai Party to bring two self-exiled former prime ministers - namely Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra - back home to solve the country’s problems. He was speaking on the first day of the censure debate on Tuesday.
“As the prime minister, I don’t know everything. I am not good at everything. I am not someone you might say is the cleverest person. But where is he [Thaksin] now?
“I know you may admire some people who previously held this position and praise them for doing a better job than me. That’s fine. Just bring them back if you can,” Prayut said on Tuesday.
When asked about Thaksin’s Clubhouse remarks, Prayut pointed to his lips and said: “Talking is what a mouth is for. People can say anything they want.”
Thaksin fled the country in 2008 shortly before being convicted by the Supreme Court for abuse of authority in connection with a land purchase deal, while Yingluck fled in 2017 shortly before the court sentenced her to five years in jail for ignoring corruption in the first rice-pledging scheme.
In January this year, Thaksin announced a plan to end his self-imposed exile and return to Thailand this year as “a gift for Thais”.