Yingluck mulls over returning to politics

BANGKOK - Thai ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has said that she has designs on a parliamentary run in 2016 if allowed.

In her first public interview since she was ousted, Yingluck said that she knew from the day she became prime minister her administration would end up toppled from power in a military coup, just as her brother Thaksin Shinawatra was.

Yingluck defended her administration and rejected accusations of corruption, comparing the coup to a carjacking.

"I knew from the first day I was prime minister that if it wasn 't cut short by the independent agencies or the judiciary, it would be a coup," Yingluck was quoted by the Bangkok Post newspaper as saying on Monday.

Yingluck has come under fire for a failed rice-subsidy plan that is alleged to have cost the state 600 billion baht in losses.

She faces the prospect of impeachment and possibly a trial in the Supreme Court for alleged dereliction of duty in the scheme.

She rejected any wrongdoing and said she intends to fight the case. The rice-pledging policy benefited the farmers, she said, adding that rice-subsidy policies have been implemented by other governments.

It has been six months since Yingluck was ousted from power by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta headed by former army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha who has since replaced her as prime minister.

"I try to keep a low profile, in keeping with the request by the NCPO. These days, I read books, meet up with friends and eat out or go shopping. But it's not often that I do this. I don't want to be in the news," Yingluck said.

She said right now, what she does in life isn't always up to her.

"Since the coup, someone else has chosen the path I walk for me. I have no idea what other path they might draw up for me. I'm not at all in a position to choose," Yingluck said.

Looking back, she said she has no regrets about her short tenure as premier.

"I did my best to fulfill my duty as a prime minister installed via an election and who preserved democracy," she said.

"It's the same as if the people had handed me the car keys and said I must drive and lead the country. Then suddenly, someone points a gun at my head and tells me to get out of the car while I 'm at the wheel driving the people forward."

Yingluck said that if in 2016 there is a general election and she is still qualified to stand, she intends to run for parliament. The NCPO has issued a road map which includes drafting a new charter by the latter half of next year. A general election is expected at the beginning of 2016.

"I don't know what the future holds," she said.

Yingluck said she now takes care of the house and looks after her only son, Supasek "Nong Pipe" Amornchat, to fill the time taken up for more than two years by the frenetic schedule of being prime minister.

Whiling away the time, she now cultivates mushrooms in her garden at her home in Bangkok. She said it is soothing to watch what she grows.

She is thinking about writing a book about her life as prime minister. She said she remembers "who did and said what" during her administration, which might be material for the book, if she decides to become an author.

Yingluck and her son went on a trip to Japan last month after they were given the green light from the NCPO. There they met with Thaksin. But Yingluck maintained she has no plans to escape legal cases against her.

"I told Gen Prayut before I took the overseas trips that he should rest assured. I won't run away," she said.