Billionaire former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was yesterday released on parole after six months in detention, his first day of freedom in his homeland 15 years after fleeing in the wake of his overthrow in a military coup.
Thailand’s best-known and most polarizing premier, Thaksin has loomed large over politics during the years spent mostly in self-imposed exile to dodge jail for abuse of power, charges he maintained were cooked up by the country’s old guard.
The 74-year-old tycoon, whose family’s party is back in power, was granted parole despite having not spent a single night in prison for a sentence that had in August last year been commuted from eight years to one by the Thai king.
Photo: AFP
Due to health reasons, Thaksin was incarcerated in a luxury wing of a hospital, from which he made an uncharacteristically low-key departure before dawn yesterday, slipping out in a convoy of tinted-windowed vehicles that was chased by a phalanx of media that had gathered overnight.
Wearing a checked shirt, protective mask and with his arm in a sling, Thaksin was pictured in the vehicle beside youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, leader of the ruling Pheu Thai party, and arrived at his Bangkok residence 25 minutes later.
Thaksin made a dramatic return by private jet in August last year to a rapturous welcome from supporters, before being escorted away by police who saluted him as he arrived.
His homecoming coincided with ally Srettha Thavisin being elected prime minister that same day by a parliament stacked with lawmakers loyal to the military, prompting speculation Thaksin had negotiated a deal with the powerful enemies who toppled three Shinawatra governments in eight years.
His allies have denied any such pact.
Thaksin’s return and early release has been controversial, with widespread skepticism about the extent of his health problems and his relatively mild punishment.
“Very sick? Parole? What disease?” Thai Senator Somchai Swangkarn wrote on social media with pictures of Thaksin leaving hospital and the hashtag “RIP Thai justice.”
The opposition Move Forward Party said it was undeniable Thaksin had received unfair treatment in the past, but providing justice to him “should not be in a way that emphasizes double standards ... or gives certain individuals privileges above the law.”
Thaksin’s release had long been anticipated and the focus will now shift to whether the tycoon stays true to his word regarding his retirement.
“He certainly will have some influence. Now, to what extent? He’s not calling the shots the same way he used to,” political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said.
“Thaksin will be on a leash because the newly aligned centers of power, they don’t trust him,” he said. “I’m sure that the back channels will make it very clear that if he reneges on the deal, there’ll be trouble.”
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