Former Thai premier Thaksin freed on parole
BANGKOK, THAILAND—Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was released early from prison on Monday, raising the prospect of a return to the spotlight for the political heavyweight.
The 76-year-old telecoms billionaire served eight months of a one-year prison sentence for corruption and will be required to wear an electronic monitor during his four-month probation period.
Thaksin hugged family members outside the Bangkok jail where several hundred supporters wearing their signature red shirts had gathered, some shouting “we love Thaksin,” an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist saw.
Thaksin “may stay away for a couple months, but he will not leave politics,” said 70-year-old Janthana Chaidej who took a day off work as a restaurant cook to show his support.
Thaksin, who will be on probation until September, has other pending criminal cases against him, which could dissuade him from making rousing speeches and risking further prosecution, analysts say.
“I went into hibernation for eight months,” Thaksin told reporters from a rear window of his car outside his home in the capital, adding that he felt “relief” after his release.
Limited travel
The former premier was fitted with an electronic monitor at a Bangkok probation office on Monday morning, and will not be allowed to travel outside of the capital without permission, the corrections department said in a statement.
While leaving the probation office, Thaksin appeared to joke with journalists about his memory, saying, “I do not remember anything. I have Alzheimer’s already.”
Thaksin’s political machine has for two decades been a key rival of Thailand’s pro-military, pro-royalty elite, who view his populist brand as a threat to the traditional social order.
His Pheu Thai party and its earlier iterations have been the country’s most successful political outfit of the 21st century, with the Shinawatra family producing four prime ministers and drawing widespread support from the rural population.
Political comeback
But Pheu Thai had its worst election result ever in February, slipping to third place and raising questions about the future of Thaksin’s dynasty.
Yet Pheu Thai’s inclusion in the ruling coalition of conservative Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has left open the possibility of a political comeback.
For his die-hard supporters, Thaksin’s release “will strengthen Pheu Thai in the short term because people will feel that the Pheu Thai owner is back,” said political science lecturer Wanwichit Boonprong.
But Thaksin’s “old enemies, the conservatives,” will rally around Anutin, who “has what Thaksin does not have—the trust of the elites,” Wanwichit added.
The anti-Thaksin conservatives “will unite and focus on Thaksin’s next move—and whether he will stay away from politics.”
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