EX-PM ON PAROLE
The corrections department announced Thaksin’s parole last month, citing his age and the fact that he had less than a year left to serve as reasons for early release.
Thaksin was jailed after the Supreme Court ruled last year that he improperly served a 2023 sentence in a hospital suite 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.
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 a 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 Pheu Thai forming a new government, 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 prison to serve his one-year term.
Thaksin was one of more than 850 prisoners who were also approved for early release.
His daughter, former prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, told reporters on Thursday after meeting with Thaksin in prison that they had “not discussed anything about politics” and only spoken about family.
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.
