Young progressives were encouraged by unprecedented calls in 2020 to amend Thailand’s lese-majesté laws, resulting in support for the MFP, and the royal issue remains central to the Thaksin question.
“Thaksin may need the support of both the army and the monarchy as soon as he returns to his country,” Korakot Sangyenpan, a campaigner for the Democracy Restoration Group, told AFP.
Phu Thai’s decision to work with once-condemning conservative groups, he said, has made Thaksin far more attractive to established figures.
“Thaksin is too old a story for the new generation, but a brand new hope for the conservatives,” he said.
But the question of Thaksin’s return was nothing more than a distraction, said a member of the protest group Thaluwang, who gave him only the nickname Bang.
“People will not focus on the real problem, which is the Thai monarchy, and they will think Thaksin will help and everything will get better,” he told AFP.
“It would probably be a step back for the Thai democracy protests.”