Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released from jail on parole on Monday.
In September 2025, the Supreme Court ordered the 76-year-old telecom billionaire to serve a year in jail on previous corruption charges.
Thaksin was released from Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison at 7:40 am local time (00:40 UCT).
He hugged waiting family members and greeted several hundred supporters wearing the signature red shirts of Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party who had gathered outside the prison.
The Department of Corrections announced Thaksin’s release in April, citing his age and saying he had less than a year left for early release. He will have to wear an electronic monitor during the four-month probation period.
According to the Thai Examiner, Thaksin will return to the Shinawatra family home in Thonburi, just south of the capital Bangkok.
Will Thaksin return to the political spotlight?
For two decades, Thaksin has been a leading opponent of Thailand’s pro-military, pro-monarchy elite.
He was first elected as Prime Minister in 2001 due to his populist promises of prosperity of the rural poor. He was assassinated in a military coup in 2006 after being re-elected with a landslide in 2005.
He fled Thailand in 2008 after being found guilty of conflict of interest, abuse of power and corruption during his tenure.
Upon his return to Thailand in 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
But he was only in jail for a few hours before he complained of chest pain and was taken to hospital. He spent six months there before being released on parole. Later the king reduced his punishment to one year.
After his daughter Patongtarn Shinawatra was dismissed as prime minister in August 2025, a court ruled that Thaksin and his doctors had unnecessarily prolonged his hospital stay. He was ordered to spend a year in jail for previous convictions.
Although his Pheu Thai party had its worst performance ever in the February 2026 elections, it is part of the ruling coalition.
The government is led by PM Anutin Charnvirakul and his conservative Bhumjaithai party. Unlike Thaksin, Anutin is widely considered to be strongly supported by Thailand’s influential military and royal elite.
Thaksin’s nephew, Yodchanan Wongsawat, is the Minister of Higher Education in the current cabinet.
His daughter Patongtaran, Anutin’s predecessor, told reporters after visiting Thaksin in prison last week that they “did not discuss anything about politics” and only talked about family.
Edited by: Carl Sexton