Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra left Klongprem Central Prison in Bangkok on parole and was greeted by family members and a crowd of supporters on Monday morning.
Thaksin was seen walking out of the prison gate in Chatuchak district at 7.44am. There, he hugged family members and greeted a crowd of supporters including Pheu Thai Party members and red-shirt followers.
He paid respect to a Thai national flag when the national anthem was played. After it ended he got in his Mercedes-Maybach, which then left the prison amid a crowd of supporters at 7.56am.
Thaksin is required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet during his parole period, until Sept 9.
Thaksin, 76, has been behind bars since Sept 9 last year, when the Supreme Court ordered him to actually serve his one-year sentence for abuse of authority and conflict of interest while serving as prime minister prior to 2006.
The court said it did not recognise Thaksin’s stay in a VIP ward at the Police General Hospital in 2023-24 as qualifying for prison time.
As of May 11, he has served two-thirds of his sentence, the minimum required for parole eligibility.
On Sept 9, 2025, the Supreme Court ordered Thaksin to serve the year's imprisonment to which he was sentenced two years earlier, on Aug 22, 2023.
Thaksin had returned to Thailand on that day after self-exile for 15 years. He stayed at Police General Hospital instead of in prison until his previous parole in early 2024.
