REDUCED PRISON TERM
Thaksin is serving his sentence in a Bangkok prison after the Supreme Court ruled last year that he improperly served a 2023 sentence in a hospital suite rather than a 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.
After returning to Thailand in August 2023, he was sentenced to eight years for corruption and abuse of power.
But rather than prison, he was whisked to a private room in hospital on health grounds, his sentence was reduced to one year by royal pardon, and he was freed as part of an early release scheme for elderly prisoners.
The timing of his return and his medical transfer, which coincided with his Pheu Thai party forming a new government, had fuelled public suspicion of a backroom deal and allegations of special treatment.
The Supreme Court ruled in September that Thaksin had not been suffering from a critical health condition and his time spent in hospital could not count as time served, landing him in a prison cell to serve his one-year term.
Thaksin is one of more than 850 prisoners who were approved for early release on Wednesday, the corrections department said.
