President Prabowo Meets Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, Discusses World Issues

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto received a visit from a former Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and his family at Prabowo's private residence in Jakarta on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. The meeting, as the country's Cabinet Secretary, Teddy Indra Wijaya, in a statement, was done hours after seeing off the departure of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Special Region of Yogyakarta -- about 500 km from Jakarta.

Teddy said that the Prime Minister of Thailand from 2024 to 2025 and Thaksin's daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, also attended the meeting. According to him, the "warm" meeting was a momentum to strengthen the long-standing friendship between the two leaders.

"In a relaxed atmosphere, the President (Prabowo) and Thaksin exchanged views on various global strategic developments and regional dynamics," Teddy said, as quoted by Indonesia's Presidential Secretariat.

Teddy claimed that the Indonesian government will continue to strengthen its network of friendships with world leaders and figures. This is part of its efforts to expand international cooperation.

"Through meetings like this, the Indonesian government continues to strengthen its network of friendships and communication with world leaders and figures as part of its efforts to expand cooperation and strengthen Indonesia's position amidst global dynamics," he said.

Thaksin Shinawatra has now become a member of the Advisory Board at Danantara Indonesia, an Indonesian sovereign wealth fund agency. The secretariat said his presence at the meeting reflected the ongoing relationship.

Formerly a police officer, Thaksin later became a businessman and founded a communications conglomerate, Shin Corporation (now Intouch Holdings), in 1983. He later joined politics, with him becoming the prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and becoming the first democratically elected prime minister of Thailand to serve a full term.