Fugitive former Thai leader Thaksin says he previously COVID-19

Thailand’s self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says he was hospitalised for about fourteen days after diagnosing himself as getting the coronavirus. News of his illness began circulating several hours after it had been revealed that US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania tested positive for the condition.

Thaksin, a 71-year-old billionaire whose main residence is in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, discovered he was infected in late August when he tested himself with a high-tech tool created by a company where he is an investor, an unofficial spokesman in Bangkok for the Shinawatra family said Friday (Oct 2).

He previously mild symptoms - sneezing and low fever - but checked his health because he was getting ready to travel, said the spokesman, Wim Rungwattanachinda.

Wim said Thaksin tested positive again when he visited a hospital in Dubai, where he stayed for approximately a week for treatment before transferring to another hospital in Abu Dhabi, another city in the UAE, 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 condition. He said he suspected he caught the coronavirus when he forgot to clean his hands when likely to a food court, though he generally wore a nose and mouth mask when out in public areas.

Thaksin founded a political party after learning to be a billionaire in the telecommunications sector, and became prime minister after winning a 2001 election. He was reelected in 2005, however the army ousted him in a coup in 2006, and he faced several charges linked to abuse of power and corruption. Thaksin claimed the cases against him were political persecution, and fled Thailand while on bail after a conviction using one of the costs for which he was handed three years’ imprisonment.

His many supporters continued to battle on his behalf at the polls and in the streets, while he was thought to be pulling the strings from a distance. There has been speculation this month that he'll make a brand new bid at an open political comeback, though likely through members of the family.

Thaksin’s Thai passport was canceled by the federal government, but he has at least one from another country that he was legally granted in trade for making investments. His investment in a UK-based company that claims on its website to have rolled out a “rapid, lab-free COVID-19 test,” is merely one of is own several business interests.