Thaksin - in white shirt, blue trousers and with short and partly grey hair - was seen walking out of the prison gate in Chatuchak district at 7:44am, reports the Bangkok Post. There, he hugged family members and greeted a crowd of supporters including Pheu Thai Party members and red-shirt followers.
He paid respect to a Thai national flag when the national anthem was played. After it ended he got in his Mercedes-Maybach, which then left the prison amid a crowd of supporters at 7:56am.
The luxury car moved slowly through the crowd and its rear windows were fully opened. Inside on the left rear seat, Thaksin made repeated “wais” to his supporters.
Thaksin is required to wear an electronic monitoring (EM) bracelet during his parole period, until Sept 9.
He was among 859 inmates approved for general parole under Department of Corrections regulations.
Thaksin is also required to report to Bangkok Probation Office 1 within three days of his release, as his residence, Ban Chan Song La in Bang Phlat district, falls within its jurisdiction. Monthly reporting is expected throughout the parole period.
Thaksin, 76, has been behind bars since Sept 9 last year, when the Supreme Court ordered him to actually serve his one-year sentence for abuse of authority and conflict of interest while serving as prime minister prior to 2006.
The court said it did not recognise Thaksin’s prolonged stay in a VIP ward at the Police General Hospital in 2023-24 as qualifying for prison time.
As of today, he has served two-thirds of his sentence, the minimum threshold required for parole eligibility.
On Sept 9, 2025, the Supreme Court ordered Thaksin to serve the year’s imprisonment to which he was sentenced two years earlier, on Aug 22, 2023.
The court said it considered as illegitimate the transfer of Thaksin from Bangkok Remand Prison shortly after his arrival there on Aug 22, 2023 to the Police General Hospital after he complained of chest pain.
Thaksin had returned to Thailand on that same day after self-exile for 15 years. He stayed at Police General Hospital instead of in prison until his previous parole in early 2024.