Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra released from prison 

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been released from a prison in Bangkok after spending eight months of a one-year sentence there over a corruption-related charge.

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 the Klong Prem Central Prison.

Thaksin remade ⁠and dominated Thai politics for a quarter-century, but his influence has waned of late following his jailing and his once formidable Pheu Thai Party’s worst election performance on record ⁠earlier this year.

His hair closely cropped and in a simple white shirt, Thaksin walked out of prison at about 7:40am local time (00:40 GMT) and was immediately surrounded by family members, including his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was sacked as prime minister by ‌a court order in August last year, weeks before his imprisonment.

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

Thaksin had served as prime minister from 2001 until a military coup toppled him in 2006, while he was abroad.

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

But he was in prison for only a few hours following his homecoming before complaining of heart trouble and chest pains. He then spent six months in the VIP ⁠wing of a hospital until he was freed on parole.

In September last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Thaksin must serve ⁠that time in prison, concluding that he and his doctors ⁠had intentionally prolonged his hospital stay with minor surgeries that were unnecessary.

A Ministry of Justice panel agreed last month to grant him parole as part of a review of more than 900 eligible prisoners’ cases, citing his good behaviour in prison, his age and the low risk that he would repeat his offence.

According to the corrections department, Thaksin will be required to wear an electronic ankle monitor for the remainder of his sentence.

In a video streamed by the Thairath news outlet on Monday, Thaksin was seen rolling down the car window to greet a small group of supporters outside his home in western Bangkok and responding to reporters’ shouted questions that “I was in hibernation; I can’t remember anything now”.

Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party, which slipped to third place in February’s elections, joined the governing coalition of conservative Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Thaksin’s nephew, Yodchanan Wongsawat, who became Pheu Thai’s standard-bearer ahead of the February election, was made minister of higher education in Anutin’s cabinet.

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