A new chapter in the endless Thai political saga. Former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra regained his freedom on Sunday February 18, six months after his return from fifteen years of voluntary exile.

The 74-year-old billionaire, in power from 2001 until the 2006 coup, was seen through his car windows, wearing a neck corset and sitting next to his daughter Paetongtarn, leaving the hospital police in central Bangkok.

A handful of people protesting his release gathered outside the hospital.

He then returned to his home in Bangkok, the gate of which was decorated with a welcome banner made by his grandchildren.

“I want to tell him to fight,” a supporter wearing a t-shirt with his image told local media, saying she had been waiting outside his house for two days. “If he is there, the country will develop.”

Royal pardon

Initially sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and abuse of power, the former leader benefited from a pardon from King Maha Vajiralongkorn in September which reduced his sentence to one year of imprisonment.

At the beginning of February, the authorities announced that the detainee met the conditions for early release, due to his age and state of health.

Returning from exile on August 22, 2023 after 15 years abroad, Thaksin Shinawatra spent a total of only six months in detention, largely in a police hospital in Bangkok, due to health problems. .

Read alsoFrom popular Prime Minister to prison, the return of Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand

He was admitted to hospital just hours after returning from exile with chest tightness and high blood pressure, and his family said he underwent two operations in the following months.

The framework for Thaksin Shinawatra's conditional release is not yet known, but he could have to wear an electronic bracelet or limit his travel, according to an expert interviewed Tuesday by AFP.

Suspected of having made a pact

In a statement, the progressive opposition party Move Forward (MFP) questioned whether he had received special treatment.

"Thailand needs a democratic system in which the rule of law and the justice system are applied equally to everyone, without double standards (...) for the privileged ", the party said.

Ultra-popular in the early 2000s, especially among peasants in the North and Northeast, Thaksin is suspected of having concluded a pact with his former adversaries, the monarchy and the army, to regain freedom.

Shinawatra is an old lion in Thai politics, who maintains influence through the family party, Pheu Thai, led by Paetongtarn, expected to continue the dynasty.

She could become the third person to head the government to bear the name Shinawatra, after Thaksin and Yingluck, her aunt (and Thaksin's sister) who ruled the kingdom from 2011 to 2014, until a coup.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra greets his supporters on August 22, 2023 in Bangkok. © Lillian Suwanrumpha, AFP

The mention of this surname awakens old fractures in Thailand. Thaksin Shinawatra was as much adored by the countryside, thanks to his pioneering redistribution policies, as he was hated by the traditional elites of Bangkok, who found him populist and insolent towards King Bhumibol.

Reds versus yellows

If he has been credited with good management of the economy, the leader, who made his fortune in telecommunications, has often been accused of mixing his private affairs with those of the State.

Tensions peaked during the protest movements between his supporters, "the red shirts", and his opponents attached to the monarchy, "the yellow shirts". In 2010, the army opened fire on a red shirt protest, killing more than 90 people.

"Red shirts" in support of Thaksin Shinawatra take part in a rally on December 13, 2008 in Bangkok. © Pornchai Kittiwongsakul, AFP

Some long-time supporters now criticize their former champion for reaching out to the military to encourage his return to the country after fifteen years of voluntary exile to escape justice.

Indeed, Pheu Thai agreed to form a government coalition with pro-army groups which could not have claimed power following their large defeat in the 2023 elections.

This controversial agreement excluded the MFP, the winning party in the election, which had become the main protest force in the eyes of new generations.

Thaksin Shinawatra is also the subject of lese majeste charges for comments made in 2015, but Thai justice has not yet decided what action to take in this case.

With AFP

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