Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra ทักษิณ ชินวัตร, IPA: [tʰáksǐn tɕʰinnawát]; born July 26, 1949 in Chiang Mai, Thailand), Thai businessman and politician, is the deposed Prime Minister of Thailand and the former leader of the populist Thai Rak Thai party. He is married to Potjaman Shinawatra, and has one son, and two daughters.

Thaksin started his career in the Thai Police, and later became a successful entrepreneur, establishing Shin Corporation and Advanced Info Service, the largest mobile phone operator in Thailand. He became one of the richest people in Thailand. Thaksin entered politics by joining the Phalang Dharma Party in 1994, and later founded the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party in 1998. After a landslide election victory in 2001, he became Prime Minister of Thailand.

Thaksin's distinctive economic, public health, education, energy, drug, politics, and international relations policies made him the first elected Prime Minister in Thai history to complete his term in office, and helped him win a landslide re-election in 2005. Thaksin's policies were particularly effective at alleviating rural poverty (poverty fell by half in 5 years) and at increasing access to affordable health care. His main support base has been the rural poor. Under his government, Thailand's standing on major indices of corruption improved substantially.

However, his government has been frequently challenged with allegations of corruption, dictatorship, demagogy, treason, conflicts of interest, human rights offenses, acting undiplomatically, the use of legal loopholes and hostility towards a free press. A controversial leader, he has also been the target of allegations of , selling national assets to international investors, and religious desecration. He has been subject to several alleged assassination attempts.

On 19 September 2006, a military junta overthrew his government in a bloodless coup. The junta warned him against returning to Thailand. His diplomatic passport was revoked after the junta accused him of engaging in political activities while in exile. Thai embassies were ordered not to facilitate his travels, and all mention of him on Thai television has been censored.

source: wikipedia.org