Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist former prime minister of Thailand, has returned to the country after 15 years in self-imposed exile as his Pheu Thai party is preparing for a vote in parliament to install its candidate as prime minister.
The charismatic former telecommunications magnate, who was deposed in a coup d'état in 2006, flew to Thailand from Singapore on Tuesday morning. “It’s time for me to be with the Thai people,” Thaksin told Nikkei Asia before boarding a private flight to Bangkok.
Thaksin will be taken into custody for numerous corruption-related cases, in which he was convicted in absentia in 2008, law enforcement authorities said on Monday. He faces 10 years in prison, but few political observers expect the former prime minister, who is 74, to serve significant time behind bars.