Thaksin Shinawatra Released from Prison on Parole in Thailand
Thaksin Shinawatra's Release from Klong Prem Central Prison
File image of Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra(Photo: @zetacompa/X)
Bangkok, May 11: The former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been released from Klong Prem Central Prison after being granted parole to serve the remaining four months of his one-year sentence.
Thaksin made his first public appearance at approximately 7:40 a.m. local time, where he was reunited with family members outside the prison. He had completed two-thirds of his sentence, which met the standard criteria for parole, as reported by a news agency.
After paying respects to the Thai flag and thanking his supporters, he departed in a vehicle around 7:55 a.m. local time.
As he left to check in at a probation office in Bangkok, he was welcomed by a crowd of supporters dressed in red shirts, who gathered outside the prison under heavy police presence.
The Department of Corrections noted that Thaksin was one of over 850 inmates granted early release during a parole committee meeting last month, considering his age of over 70 and the fact that he had less than a year remaining on his sentence.
He is required to adhere to strict probation conditions, which include wearing an electronic monitoring device, submitting to parole supervision, timely reporting to authorities, and refraining from leaving the country until his sentence officially ends on September 9.
The Parole Committee, part of Thailand's Ministry of Justice, convened on April 29 and approved Thaksin's parole release on May 11.
At 76 years old, Thaksin has served as prime minister twice, winning elections in 2001 and 2005. His second term was interrupted by a military coup in 2006, leading him to live in self-imposed exile starting in 2008.
Upon his return to Thailand in August 2023, he was arrested to serve an eight-year sentence for three charges related to his time in office.
After spending less than a day in prison, he was moved to a police hospital due to serious health issues. His sentence was later reduced to one year following a royal pardon request.
Thaksin was ordered back to prison on September 9, 2025, after the Supreme Court determined that his six-month hospital stay was improperly counted as time served.
Additionally, he is involved in a separate royal defamation case, as the attorney general has appealed a lower court's decision that acquitted him of remarks made during a 2015 interview with foreign media.