Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra released from prison | Story

The powerful former prime minister was released on parole after spending eight months in prison.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been released from a Bangkok prison after serving eight months of a one-year prison sentence on corruption charges.

Hundreds of people, including the 76-year-old billionaire’s family and political allies, greeted him on Monday, chanting, “We love Thakisn” as he left Klong Prem’s main prison.

Thaksin has reshaped and controlled Thai politics for decades, but his influence has waned of late following his arrest and his radical Pheu Thai Party. worst decisions ever made earlier this year.

With his hair closely cropped and wearing a white shirt, Thaksin emerged from prison at around 7:40am local time (00:40 GMT) and was immediately surrounded by family members, including his daughter. Paetongtarn Shinawatrawho was sacked as prime minister by court order in August last year, weeks before his arrest.

He smiled brightly as he walked to greet his supporters, but left without speaking to the media.

Thaksin served as prime minister from 2001 until the military ousted him in 2006, while abroad.

After 15 years in exile, he returned to Thailand in 2023 to face an eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power related to his time in office. That sentence was changed to one year by the king.

But he was only in jail for a few hours after returning home before he complained of heart problems and chest pains. He then spent six months in the VIP wing of the hospital until he was released on parole.

In September last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Thaksin should serve that time in prison, ruling that he and his doctors had deliberately prolonged his hospital stay with minor surgeries that were not necessary.

The Justice Ministry agreed last month to grant him parole as part of a review of more than 900 cases of inmates eligible for prison, based on his good behavior in prison, his age and low risk of reoffending.

According to the Department of Corrections, Thaksin will be required to wear an electronic monitor for the rest of his life.

In a video released by Thairath reporter on Monday, Thaksin was seen rolling down a car window to greet a small group of supporters outside his home in western Bangkok and answering questions from reporters shouting “I was in hibernation; I don’t remember anything now”.

Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party, which fell to third place in the February election, joined the ruling coalition of conservative Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

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

Thaksin’s daughter, Paetongtarn, became the country’s prime minister in 2024, but was removed from office by Thailand’s Constitutional Court after a recording was released of a controversial phone call by former Cambodian leader Hun Sen.