Critics are concerned that conflict could ensue if Thaksin remains ‘above the law’ amid mounting speculation of his return to politics.

Thaksin was released from Police General Hospital, where for the last six months he had been serving time for corruption-related offences.

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

Thaksin Shinawatra to be freed possibly as soon as the weekend – just six months after returning from 15 years of self-imposed exile.

Thailand has some of the world’s strictest royal defamation laws protecting King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family, with each charge bringing a potential 15-year prison sentence.

Thaksin, whose eight-year jail sentence was commuted to a year following a royal pardon, qualifies for release on parole next month due to his age and health.

Several Asean member states are believed to be upset with Thailand for organising direct talks with Myanmar.

Chaithawat Tulathon, a former political magazine editor, will head the progressive party after Pita Limjaroenrat stepped down earlier this month.

Thailand PM Srettha Thavisin says Thaksin Shinawatra can play a role in the government, and that it would be ‘unwise’ of him not to seek the ex-premier’s opinion.

Srettha Thavisin has been in office for less than a month, but Washington already sees its best opportunity in two decades to get its alliance with Thailand back on track.

Pita Limjaroenrat has resigned as the leader of the Move Forward Party and says he will still be involved in the party.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin plans to make a cash handout of US$280 each to 55 million adults as part of an attempt to stimulate the country’s economy in addition to other measures he will reveal to parliament on Monday.

Architect and artist Duangrit Bunnag carried out a promise to be pelted with faeces in a performance following the formation of a coalition government involving army-backed parties.

The Royal Gazette state journal said 74-year-old billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra had ‘accepted his crime and shown remorse’.

Thailand’s most famous politician returned home last week from living abroad in self-exile for 15 years after his party was ousted in a coup.

Corrections department officials say Thaksin Shinawatra has pre-existing issues with his heart, lungs, spine and blood pressure, and would be monitored closely.

In a parliamentary vote on Tuesday afternoon, Srettha passed the threshold of 375 votes needed to become premier and form the next government.

A possible ‘super-deal’ with former political foes may allow Thaksin to be held in special detention and swiftly seek a royal pardon from the Thai king.

Thaksin Shinawatra’s potential return to the kingdom on Tuesday coincides with a key parliamentary vote that could end a political deadlock to choose a new prime minister.

The United Thai Nation Party, which fielded former coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as its PM candidate in the election, said it will help Pheu Thai ‘to move the country forward together’.

Any hope of the election-winning party forming a government was all but killed off by the Constitutional Court’s rejection on Wednesday of a request to review the blocking of its candidate Pita Limjaroenrat.

Thailand’s political deadlock is turning potential homebuyers in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy cautious, posing risks to the market as some 50,000 flats are likely to be launched this year, analysts say.

Thaksin said he needed a medical check up and would postpone his return, originally planned for August 10, by ‘a couple of weeks’.

Several cafes have joined a choc-mint boycott after a photo of Pheu Thai and pro-military party figures toasting the concoction during a meeting went viral.

Ahead of ex-PM Thaksin’s return to Thailand on August 10, his family’s Pheu Thai party will have to break from the more radical Move Forward Party, while sustaining as little lasting damage as possible to its pro-democracy brand.

The Move Forward Party’s leader Pita Limjaroenrat has twice failed to be confirmed as Thailand’s next prime minister, largely thanks to obstinate senators

Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangphan said election-winning Move Forward’s leader Pita Limjaroenrat will not be included in next week’s third vote for a premier.

The decision comes amid scrutiny over his shares in a media firm, as Thai lawmakers are forbidden from owning shares in media companies under the constitution.