Thaksin returns to Thailand in 15 days: daughter

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return from 15 years of exile next month, according to his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a prime minister candidate for the party he helped found.

Thaksin turned 74 today, and Paetongtarn’s morning announcement comes nearly three months after he vowed to return due to old age and a desire to spend time with his family. Paetongtarn’s Instagram post wished her father a happy birthday and put a date on his flight home: Aug. 10.

“July 26 of every year is an important day for me, but this year I don’t believe what I am about to type – dad will be coming back home August 10 at Don Mueang Airport,” she wrote.

Paetongtarn said today was Thaksin’s 17th birthday abroad, and that her family was filled with both joy and concern.

“To anyone who read this far, my father is one Thai man, a prime minister who…