"I never forget the past, but I don't live in it. Living in the past is such a waste of time, but to forget the past is forget oneself."

Pol.Lt.Col.Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra was born on 26 July, 1949, the second child of Mr. Lert and Mrs. Yindee Shinawatra. "I was born in a two storey wooden house in front of the market... I studied in the village of Sankamphaeng until I was 15, then I moved to the city of Chiang Mai."

He entered Montfort College, Chiang Mai, in the third grade, having never learned English (Montfort taught English from the first grade). By putting his mind to the task, he managed 75% in the exam. He went on to the Armed Forces Preparatory School in 1967 and graduated first in his year at the Thai Police Cadet Academy, Class 26, in 1973.

Pol.Lt.Col.Dr. Thaksin was not just a bookworm and gained a lot of business experience because of
his father's many business interests.

"My father loved modern things ... the people of Sankamphaeng saw their first fridge at Lert's Coffee Shop, and the same went for the first coconut dicer .when he had his orchard, he invested in a tractor, the first to use this labor-saving device."

Student life went by smoothly and he became a policeman in 1973. Within a year he received a government scholarship to study for a master degree in Criminal Justice at Eastern Kentucky University in the United States, graduating in 1975. He later returned once more to the United States in 1978 to earn a doctorate in the same subject from Sam Houston State University, a period marked by his marriage to Potjaman Damapong and the opportunity to study computers that was to prove pivotal.

.Pol.Lt.Col.Dr. Thaksin later taught at the Thai Police Cadet Academy, was an inspector at the Royal Palace Police Station, a Minister's police escort and Deputy Superintendent of the Police Intelligence Center. He helped develop and modernize the police crime database, the first time that technology was used to collect and correlate crime statistics, vehicle license numbers and criminal profiles to support police work.

When he decided to resign, he was a Police Major and Superintendent of the Policy and Planning Sub-division of the General Staff Division, Metropolitan Police Bureau. An important reason for this change of career was given by Dr. Thaksin at the time:

"I hadn't so much reached the stage of being bored, but the police system was just like any other bureaucratic system. Too much time was being wasted on unproductive issues; a lot of nonsensical meetings. I'm a rather impatient person who wants to make quick decisions, to take action immediately," he recalls. "When I resigned from the police force I took only one day to make up my mind." In 1987, aged 33, Pol.Lt.Col.Dr.Thaksin embarked on a business career.

Sorakon Adulyanon, in Thaksin Shinawatra, the Knight of the Third Wave  (Matichon Press, 1990) explained that the secret behind Thaksin's rapid success has been his courage in making quick decisions, his willingness to risk investing in new types of business. Changing the business direction of his companies from computer sales to telecommunications at the crucial moment was a mark of unprecedented insight. As a business leader, Pol.Lt.Col.Dr. Thaksin is capable of working with most people, persuasive and sincere. He is known as a man who does not forget friendships.

Pol.Lt.Col.Dr.Thaksin's business success has been acknowledged widely within the country and abroad. Starting from 1992, he has won many honors and awards. He was named "ASEAN Business Man of
the Year" by the ASEAN Institute in Indonesia, the "1993 Outstanding Telecom Man of the Year" by the Telecommunications Association of Thailand and one of the top 12 Leading Asian Businessmen by the Singapore Business Times (1993).

In 1994 he was appointed Foreign Minister, then in 1995 he became head of the Palang Dharma Party. In 1995 also, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Banharn Silpa-Archa. In 1997 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in
the government of General Chavalit Yongchaiyuth.

He has a vision for Thailand beyond the year 2000, confident that if he is to steer the country on the right course, the political system and Thai politicians must be made more transparent. His philosophy is that political work must be based on universal ideals and teamwork, and that political parties must truly represent the people.