STORY: :: Bangkok, Thailand / May 11, 2026
:: Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is released after spending eight months in prison
:: His release follows a court ruling that deemed he had wrongfully stayed in hospital to avoid jail time
His hair closely cropped and in a simple white shirt, Thaksin walked out of prison around 7:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT) and was immediately surrounded by family members, including his daughter and protégé, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was sacked as prime minister by a court order last August, weeks before his incarceration.
Hundreds of supporters who had thronged outside Bangkok's Klong Prem Central Prison since the early hours of Monday chanted "we love Thaksin" as he greeted them on his release, having served about two-thirds of his sentence before being paroled.
After 15 years in self-exile, Thaksin returned to Thailand in 2023 to face an eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while prime minister from 2001-2006 that had been commuted to one year by the king.
But he was in prison for only a few hours following his homecoming, complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, then spent six months in the VIP wing of a hospital until he was freed on parole.
