Thai ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra expected to qualify for parole
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to be released on parole as early as May, or when he has served two-thirds of his one-year prison sentence, according to Thai media.
Citing a source at Thailand’s Department of Corrections, Thai media reported the potential parole after members of Thaksin’s family visited him at Bangkok’s Klongprem Central Prison, fuelling speculation that his imprisonment may be nearing an end.
Under prison regulations, inmates serving one-year sentences become eligible for parole after completing eight months, provided they meet basic conduct requirements.
The source said Thaksin is expected to qualify during the May review cycle, despite his inmate classification not yet being upgraded due to timing constraints in earlier assessments.
Classification reviews are conducted four times a year and consider behaviour, participation in activities, sentence length and time already served.
Thaksin, 76, was taken into custody on September 9 last year after the Supreme Court ordered him to serve a one-year term for abuse of authority and conflicts of interest while in office.
During the prison visit, Thaksin’s son-in-law Pidok Sooksawas told reporters the former premier was in good spirits and following political developments closely from inside prison.
Thaksin also conveyed support for Pheu Thai Party candidates ahead of the February general election and expressed condolences over a deadly crane accident in northeastern Thailand.
Supporters from the red-shirt movement gathered outside the prison.
Jailed after years in exile
Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023 after more than 15 years in self-imposed exile and was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison, later reduced to one year by royal clemency.
Although he spent much of that period in a police hospital, the Supreme Court later ruled the hospital stay did not count as prison time, forcing him to serve his sentence at Klongprem.
If granted parole in May, Thaksin’s release would mark another pivotal moment in Thailand’s long-running political saga, which has seen him jailed and his daughter, Paetongtarn, win and lose the premiership.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
