Newin Chidchob

Newin Chidchob (Thai: เนวิน ชิดชอบ, born 4 October 1958) is a Thai politician. As a member of several political parties, Newin and his allies eventually joined the Thai Rak Thai Party of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005. Until the 2006 Thai coup d'état, he served as a member of the Parliament for Buriram Province and was a Cabinet minister with the Thai Rak Thai party. From 2002 to 2005, he was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

After the 2006 Thai coup d'état and the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai, he and his friends, mostly members of the National Assembly from the southern part of Isan or northeastern region, shifted from the ruling (now dissolved) People Power Party (PPP) to the opposition Democrat Party during the 2008 Thai political crisis.^[1] He is the leader of the so-called "Friends of Newin Group", now known as the "Bhumjaithai Party". Consequently the Democrat Party'led coalition gained the majority in the National Assembly. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Democrat Party's leader, was voted by the majority of the Parliament's members to be the new prime minister in December 2008.

During the political tension in April 2009 caused by pro-Thaksin groups widely known as the Red Shirts, Newin publicly blasted Thaksin, his former 'boss', as the root of the political tension due to his 'doubts' of Thaksin's loyalty towards the monarchy and the current political system of the kingdom. Previously in 2008, Newin had wept with Thaksin when the former PM kissed the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi airport after returning to Thailand after a self-imposed exile.

Newin was named after the Burmese leader Ne Win.^[1]

Crimes and punishments

On 19 June 1998, the Buriram Provincial Court handed Newin a suspended six-month jail sentence and a ฿50,000 fine in a vote-buying slander case filed by Democrat MP Karun Sai-ngam. A year later, the Constitutional Court ruled 7-6 that Newin could keep his ministerial post.^[2]

Newin was acquitted in 2009 of involvement in the rubber sapling scandal for bid rigging, corruption and collusion.^[3]

In 2007 Newin was banned from politics for five years for being an executive of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, however he continues to be active in politics despite the ban, famously engineering a coalition government with his group and the Democrat Party.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Thailand reverts to old-style politics", December 11, 2008.
2. ^ "Thailand for YOU - Who is Newin Chidchob". Th4u.com. http://www.th4u.com/newin_chidchob.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-20. 
3. ^ by neenoi (2009-08-17). "Overview of Rubber Sapling Scandal | Thai Political Facts Info". Antithaksin.wordpress.com. http://antithaksin.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/overview-of-rubber-sapling-scandal/. Retrieved 2011-03-20. 
4. ^ http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/145937/ec-probing-thaksin-newin-role-in-by-election

• Official profile at the Thai Cabinet website and cache of the Thai Cabinet website

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Name	Chidchob, Newin
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Date of birth	4 October 1958
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