Jailed former Thai leader Thaksin granted parole, PM says

THAILAND'S controversial billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has been granted parole after serving six months in detention, the prime minister said Tuesday, while highlighting his service to the country.

The influential Thaksin, a political heavyweight and arguably Thailand's best-known prime minister, made a dramatic homecoming after living abroad for 15 years in self-exile to avoid prison for a conflict of interest.

Thaksin, 74, soon after had his eight-year jail term commuted to a year by the king. He has served six months of that in hospital detention over an undisclosed health condition and did not spend a single night in prison.

"It's official that he received parole. It's in line with the corrections department regulations," Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, a fellow tycoon and ally of the Shinawatra family, told reporters.
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"Thaksin was prime minister for many years and did many good things for the country for a long time. After he comes out, he would be a normal citizen."

A former policeman and telecoms magnate who has been at the centre of a tumultuous two-decade battle for power in Thailand, Thaksin was on a list of 930 prisoners who were considered elderly or ill and approved for parole, according to media reports.