Thailand's billionaire former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was met by cheering crowds after being released from prison on parole – eight months after a court ordered him to serve the sentence he tried to dodge with a prolonged stay in hospital.
The 76-year-old tycoon remade and dominated Thai politics for quarter of a century, but his influence has waned of late following his jailing and his once-formidable Pheu Thai Party's worst election performance on record earlier this year.
As he exited Bangkok's Klong Prem prison with hair closely cropped and wearing a loose white shirt, a smiling Thaksin hugged family members, including his daughter and protege Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who a court sacked as prime minister in August.
Hundreds of supporters, many wearing his party's signature red colour, who had gathered to greet him on his release chanted: "We love Thaksin".
Asked by a reporter how he felt, Thaksin raised his hands above his head and said he was relieved. "I went to hibernate. I can't remember anything now," he added.
After 15 years in self-exile, Thaksin came back to Thailand in 2023 to serve an eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while prime minister from 2001-2006, returning on the same day a party ally was elected premier by parliament.
But without spending a single night in prison, he was transferred to the VIP wing of a hospital after he complained of heart trouble and chest pains. His sentence was later commuted to one year by the king, and Thaksin stayed in hospital for six months before being paroled.
The Supreme Court, however, ruled that he and his doctors had dragged out his hospital stay with minor and unnecessary surgeries and that he should serve the time in prison again.
Throughout his exile and for much of his time back home, the polarising tycoon loomed large over Thailand's tumultuous politics and was the driving force behind successive populist governments led or controlled by the powerful Shinawatra family.
But the removal of Paetongtarn, the sixth premier from the family, or backed by it, to be toppled by courts or coups, was the start of a political reckoning for Thaksin, with the Pheu Thai government collapsing and ally-turned-foe Anutin Charnvirakul installed as premier just days before Thaksin was jailed.
Thaksin's release could help revive his once-dominant Pheu Thai, now a junior party in Anutin's coalition after a crushing electoral defeat in February, said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist at Ubon Ratchathani University.
"But he has to tread carefully," Titipol added. "He overplayed his hand. If he stays behind the scenes, it would be better. But one has to wonder how long he can stay behind the scenes considering his personality."
Thaksin is required to wear an electronic ankle monitor until his sentence finishes in September.
Supporter Rommanee Nakano, 76, said he should never have been jailed.
"He is a very good person," she said outside the prison. "Whatever he did, he did it for the people. He just wanted the people to be well-fed and have enough to live on."
