The former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, was released on parole this Sunday, half a year after he returned to the country after 15 years of exile and was arrested for corruption crimes.
Thaksin left the Bangkok hospital where he was serving his sentence in a black Mercedes-Benz around 6 in the morning (GMT 7) and among dozens of journalists waiting for him to leave, and traveled in the vehicle to his home, where he was They were expecting more media, according to EFE/EPA images.
The former leader was protected by a mask and his neck was secured in a collar, with his daughter, fellow politician Paetongtarn Shinawtra, sitting next to him.
74 years old, the former prime minister was one of the 930 prisoners who benefited from a parole permit due to his state of health or advanced age, and his departure today from the hospital where he was serving his sentence was anticipated the day before by the current head of Government, his ally Srettha Thavisin.
In principle, he will have to serve the rest of his sentence at home, until August 22.
Thaksin, a former media magnate deposed in a coup d’état, returned to the country last August after 15 years of exile and was quickly arrested for corruption crimes during his mandate (2001-2006).
The former leader was admitted to the Police Hospital in Bangkok under the custody of the Department of Prisons, without having spent a night in prison since his arrest, initially due to his delicate health condition.
The influential politician, considered the shadow mastermind of Phue Thai – which currently governs in a coalition – had been convicted in absentia after leaving the country for crimes of corruption and abuse of power.
Last September, Thaksin received a royal pardon from monarch Maha Vajiralongkorn, who reduced the accumulated sentences from eight years in prison to one.
His return occurred on the day that former real estate magnate Srettha Thaivisin, of the Phue Thai party, received the support of Parliament to become prime minister, after a situation of political deadlock since the May 2023 elections, won by the reformist party Avanzar, by Pita Limjaroenrat.
The winning and progressive formation, which sought to remove the military from power and reduce the power of the monarchy, could not govern due to the blockade of the Senate, hand-picked by the former military junta (2014-2019).
In the last 20 years, the pro-military and pro-monarchy elite have deposed four prime ministers in Thailand – including Thaksin – two through military coups in 2006 and 2014 and another two in a pair of controversial court decisions in 2009.
To achieve power, Phue Thai, which came second in the elections, forged an unusual alliance with two formations linked to the military that carried out a coup d’état in 2014 against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister and winner of the elections. 2011 at the head of Phue Thai.
Furthermore, Thaksin’s return and the reduction of his sentence were interpreted as another sign of the reconciliation of Thailand’s pro-military and pro-monarchist elite with the president’s circle, considered for many years the country’s number one enemy.
His conditional release brings closer the possibility of what was anticipated months ago by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who stated that he sees the former president playing a role in the Government once he completes his sentence.
Thaksin “was, and probably remains, the most popular prime minister in the history of Thai politics,” the current president said in an interview with Bloomberg in September.
Despite the conditional release, the former prime minister could still be detained in the future, since the Thai Prosecutor’s Office is studying complaints of alleged offenses against the monarchy during an interview in 2015, although at the moment he has not filed charges.
