Can Thailand’s Powerful Shinawatra Family Make a Political Comeback?

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra — one of Thailand’s most polarizing but enduring political figures since he became prime minister in 2001 — was jailed in September for corruption after returning to the country from years of self-imposed exile. Just eight months later, on May 11, he walked out of a Bangkok prison having served parts of a sentence reduced by royal pardon.

His early release on parole underscores how a once-bitter rivalry between the Shinawatra family and Thailand’s royalist, pro-military establishment has evolved into a more pragmatic alignment. The shift comes despite the same forces repeatedly ousting the family from power through coups and court rulings this century — most recently his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was removed as prime minister.