Convicted former PM Thaksin to be released on Sunday, Srettha says

Convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be released on Sunday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Saturday.

Thaksin has been in hospital detention since August, after making a dramatic homcoming from living abroad for 15 years in self-exile to avoid prison for a conflict of interest.

He had his eight-year jail term commuted to a year by His Majesty the King after his return and has served six months in hospital detention due to an undisclosed health condition.

It was until now not certain when he would be freed. Sunday is the first day of his parole eligibility.

On Tuesday, Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong confirmed that Thaksin will be paroled this coming weekend because he is old and seriously ill, Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong confirmed on Tuesday.

Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn, leader of the coalition-core Pheu Thai Party, said on Tuesday that her father would return to the family home in Bangkok.

He had been confined to a hospital room for the last six months, she said, and thought he would probably go out once doctors agreed he was fit enough to do so.