Thailand’s Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra Released from Prison

The 76-year-old telecommunications billionaire had been serving a one-year prison sentence for corruption since September and will be required to wear an electronic monitor during his four-month probation period.

According to an AFP journalist at the scene, Thaksin hugged family members outside a Bangkok prison, where hundreds of supporters wearing distinctive red shirts gathered and some shouted “we love Thaksin”.

“I don’t think he will quit politics,” said Janthana Chaidej, 70, who took a day off from her job as a restaurant cook to show her support. he said.

He said Thaksin “may stay away for a few months, but he will not quit politics.”

Thaksin, who smiled and waved to the crowd of red-clad supporters, did not speak to reporters outside the prison before getting into his car.

His political machine has been a key rival for two decades to Thailand’s pro-military, pro-royalty elite, who see his populist brand as a threat to the traditional social order.

His Pheu Thai party and its earlier versions became the country’s most successful political union of the 21st century; The Shinawatra family produced four prime ministers and enjoyed widespread support from the countryside.

But Pheu Thai had its worst-ever election result in February, falling to third place and raising questions about the future of the Thaksin dynasty.

But Pheu Thai’s inclusion in conservative Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s ruling coalition left open the possibility of a political comeback.

Political science instructor Wanwichit Boonprong said Thaksin’s die-hard supporters “will strengthen Pheu Thai in the short term because people will feel that the owner of Pheu Thai is back.”

But Wanwichit added that Thaksin’s “old enemies, the conservatives”, would rally around Anutin, who “has something Thaksin does not have, which is the trust of the elites.”

Anti-Thaksin conservatives will “unite and focus on Thaksin’s next move and whether he will stay away from politics”.

– Former Prime Minister was released on parole –

The Department of Corrections announced Thaksin’s parole last month, citing his age and the fact that he had less than a year left for early release.

Thaksin was jailed last year after the Supreme Court ruled that he had improperly served his 2023 sentence in a hospital room rather than a prison cell.

He was elected prime minister in 2001 and again in 2005, and took himself into exile after his second term was cut short by a military coup.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and abuse of power upon his return to Thailand in August 2023.

However, for health reasons he was taken to a private room in hospital rather than prison, a royal pardon reduced his sentence to one year and he was released as part of an early release scheme for older prisoners.

The timing of his return and his medical transfer, which coincided with Pheu Thai forming a new government, raised public suspicions of collusion and allegations of special treatment.

The Supreme Court ruled in September that Thaksin was not suffering from a critical health condition and that the time he spent in hospital could not count as time served and jailed him to serve a one-year sentence.

Thaksin was one of more than 850 prisoners approved for early release.

His daughter, former prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, told reporters after meeting Thaksin in prison on Thursday that they “didn’t talk anything about politics” and only talked about family.

Thaksin’s nephew Yodchanan Wongsawat, who was Pheu Thai’s standard-bearer before the February elections, was appointed minister of higher education in Anutin’s cabinet.