BANGKOK – Exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra made an unexpected early return to Thailand on Saturday, taking advantage of an annual Children’s Day event that allows the country’s youth to sit in the prime minister’s chair.
Thaksin reportedly queued for three hours for the opportunity to sit in the chair. Wearing navy shorts and a white button-down shirt, the ousted PM blended in perfectly with the hundreds of young boys and girls in line whom he paid 100 baht each to cut.
Working his way up the line, Thaksin was not noticed until he was next in line to sit in the chair, at which point he could be seen rubbing his hands together with a gleeful smile on his face.
However, just as Thaksin moved to sit down in the chair, current Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont pulled the chair out from under him.
“Gotcha!” Surayud yelled to laughter all around the room.
Thaksin then allegedly got in line again and waited for another two hours to sit in the chair. Reaching the front of the line, he was told by Surayud: “You can’t sit in the chair. It is not your chair anymore. It is my chair.”
Thaksin allegedly replied: “No, it is my chair. My chair! You stole it from me!”
As the argument escalated, Thaksin suddenly raced to the chair and sat down on it, yelling “My chair now! My chair now!” Surayud then said, “I am calling Pa Prem on you.” Surayud told Prem it was unfair that Thaksin was sitting in his chair. Prem said he would let Thaksin sit in the chair just for today and then Surayud could sit on it again starting Monday. Surayud agreed but Thaksin could be heard screaming “Not fair! It is my chair! Not fair!”
