After 17 years on the run and facing arrest on arrival in Thailand, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in his social media micro-blog that he has decided to ‘come home’ to care for his grandchildren in July this year, before his birthday. He added that he has been parted from his family and he is now old.

This is not the first time Thaksin has indicated an intention to come back to Thailand this year, the most recent being when his daughter gave birth to a baby boy earlier this month.

Thaksin Shinawatra has been in self-imposed exile since 2006, following a military coup led by Sonthi Boonyaratglin.

ผมขออนุญาตอีกครั้ง ผมตัดสินใจแล้วว่าจะกลับบ้านไปเลี้ยงหลานภายในเดือนกรกฎาคมนี้ก่อนวันเกิดผมครับ ขออนุญาตนะครับ เกือบ 17 ปีแล้วที่ต้องพลัดพรากจากครอบครัว ผมก็แก่แล้วครับ

— Thaksin Shinawatra (@ThaksinLive) May 9, 2023

Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for abuse of power in 2008. He was found guilty of corruption over a land deal, in which he violated conflict of interest rules by helping his wife buy land from a state agency at a reduced price.

His former wife, Potjaman, who jumped bail and fled to England was, however, cleared of wrongdoing in the real estate deal.

Immediately after the verdict was announced Thaksin dismissed it as politically motivated.

Politics and the court case aside, he was the first democratically elected prime minister of Thailand that serve a full term of 4 years and was re-elected by overwhelming majority in 2005.