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BANGKOK: Thaksin Shinawatra, a former self-exiled Prime Minister of Thailand, says he was hospitalized for about two weeks after diagnosing himself with the coronavirus. News of his illness began circulating several hours after it was revealed that US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania tested positive for the disease.
Thaksin, a 71-year-old billionaire whose primary residence is in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, discovered he was infected in late August when he tested himself with a high-tech device made by a company in which he is an investor, a An unofficial spokesperson in Bangkok for the Shinawatra family said on Friday (October 2).
He had mild symptoms, sneezing and a low fever, but checked his health as he was preparing to travel, said the spokesman, Wim Rungwattanachinda.
Wim said Thaksin tested positive again when he went to a hospital in Dubai, where he stayed for about a week for treatment before being transferred to a different hospital in Abu Dhabi, another city in the United Arab Emirates, where he stayed for another week.
Thaksin said his sisters, Yingluck and Yaowapa, were quarantined after he was found to be infected, but tested negative for the disease. He said he suspected he contracted the coronavirus when he forgot to wash his hands when he went to a food court, although he generally wore a face mask when in public.
Thaksin founded a political party after becoming a billionaire in the telecommunications sector and became prime minister after winning the 2001 elections. He was re-elected in 2005, but was overthrown by the army in a coup in 2006, following him which faced several charges related to abuse of power and corruption. Thaksin claimed the cases against him were political persecution and fled Thailand while on bail after being convicted of one of the charges for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.
His numerous supporters continued to fight on his behalf at the polls and in the streets, while he was seen as pulling the strings from a distance. This month it has been speculated that he will make a new offer in an open political comeback, albeit likely through family members.
Thaksin’s Thai passport was canceled by the government, but he has at least one from another country that was legally granted to him in exchange for making investments. His investment in a UK-based company that claims on its website to have implemented a “rapid COVID-19 test without laboratory” is just one of its several business interests.
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