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.

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.

The sentence comes as Thailand ramps up use of its controversial royal insult laws against pro-democracy protesters in what critics say is a tactic to silence dissent.

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.

Arnon Nampa was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday under Thailand’s tough lèse-majesté law over a speech he made in Bangkok in 2020. He said he had no regrets.

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

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.

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.

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.

A new coalition by Pheu Thai Party, former ally of winner Move Forward Party whose leader was rejected for PM, is nominating property magnate Srettha Thavisin, leaving MPF with a predicament.

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.

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 74-year-old former PM is a bogeyman for Thailand’s pro-military and royalist establishment and his return could inflame an already tense political situation.

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.

Home prices in Thailand are around a quarter of Hong Kong’s, and Hongkongers are availing themselves of a visa scheme rolled out a year ago – to the delight of developers who struggled over the last three years.

Pita Limjaroenrat of the Move Forward Party says he’ll withdraw his candidacy if parliament does not endorse him next week after knock back by senators against his pledge to reform strict royal defamation laws.

The Move Forward Party leader lacked 52 votes in his first bid to become prime minister. “I’m going to strategise again ... to make sure we reach 376.”

Pita Limjaroenrat’s bid to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister could yet be thwarted by an army-drafted constitution, experts say.