Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime minister, is merely the most recent public face of a powerful family dynasty that has a cobra choke on Thailand politics. It began with Yingluck's older brother Thaksin. For many, this former prime minister and multibillionaire is a saint, but he is also a fugitive, exiled in Dubai, with jail time waiting for him should he return to Thailand. He made sure his rule, from 2001 to 2006, was very profitable. Personal assets of more than $1.5 billion were frozen by the Thai government, still leaving Thaksin enough to pick up a Nicaraguan Diplomatic passport, buy England's Manchester City football team, then eventually settle into his Middle Eastern mansion. Now amid sheiks, he is rumored to be running the nation via Skype, through his sister. Opinions of Yingluck are not high in the Land of Smiles. Google the Thai word for stupid and she is in the top five results. The husband of a different Shinawatra sister was prime minister in 2008, and the future promises more of them. In October, a well-placed source within their party told the by Plus-HD-1.5" style="color: #0022cc; text-decoration: underline !important; background-color: transparent !important; border: none !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; height: auto !important; margin: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; min-width: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; vertical-align: baseline !important; width: auto !important;">Bangkok Post that Thaksin's son was being groomed for high political office.