The 76-year-old former Thai prime minister left Klong Prem Central Prison on Monday and told reporters at home he felt relieved after being in “hibernation”.
Supporters cheered his release, but Bloomberg said he emerged as a diminished figure in a political landscape no longer dominated by him and his family.
Thaksin had served eight months of a one-year sentence for corruption and abuse-of-power convictions after returning to Thailand in 2023 from years in exile.
Is Thaksin's release a final pact between old rivals, or the start of a new Thai power struggle?
With old foes now allied, can Thailand's progressive opposition survive the establishment's coordinated crackdown?