51吃瓜网

Bangkok – Influential former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ?was released from prison on Monday, after about eight months behind bars following a court ruling that deemed he had wrongfully stayed in hospital to avoid jail time.

The 76-year-old billionaire remade and dominated Thai politics for a quarter-century, but ?his influence has waned of late following his jailing and his ?once formidable ?Pheu Thai Party’s worst election performance on record earlier ?this year.

His hair closely cropped and in a simple white shirt, Thaksin walked out of prison around 7:40 a.m. local time 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.

In September last year, the Supreme Court ruled Thaksin must serve that time ?in ?prison, concluding he and his doctors had intentionally prolonged his ?hospital stay with minor surgeries that were unnecessary. He is required to wear ?an electronic ankle monitor for the remainder of his sentence, according to the corrections department.

Rommanee Nakano, a 76-year-old supporter from northern Chiang Rai province, said Thaksin should have never received a punishment.

“He is a very ?good person,” she said, ahead of his release. “Whatever he did, he did it for the people. He just wanted the people to be well-fed and have enough to live on.”