BANGKOK: 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 while on probation until September.
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 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.
The political patriarch 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.
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.
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.
