Thaksin Shinawatra, once the most dominant force in Thai politics, now finds himself behind bars after a dramatic ruling by Thailand’s Supreme Court on September 9, 2025. The 76-year-old former prime minister’s journey from a rural-born police officer to billionaire tycoon, and then to the country’s most polarizing leader, has been nothing short of extraordinary. Yet, even as he enters prison, debate continues to swirl over whether this marks the true end of his political era—or merely another twist in a saga that has defined Thailand’s political landscape for a quarter-century.
Born in 1949 in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thaksin began his career as a police officer. According to BBC, he earned a government scholarship in 1973 to pursue a master’s degree in criminal justice in the United States, returning home to build a telecommunications empire in the late 1980s. By 1998, he had founded the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, a move that would upend the country’s political order and set the stage for his meteoric rise.
Thaksin’s party swept into office in 2001, capitalizing on the fallout from the Asian financial crisis and the public’s disillusionment with the old guard. As Napon Jatusripitak, a visiting fellow at ISEAS — Yusof Ishak Institute, explained to ABC News, “That crisis decimated the Democrat Party. They hadn’t been able to really do anything to improve the economic situation in Thailand. And so Thaksin’s party branded itself as a force that could bring change.”
His policies—universal healthcare, debt relief, and support for rural farmers—were gamechangers. “It’s upward mobility that his party promised, and many voters experienced that kind of mobility within four or five years of his party being in power… That’s quite unheard of for our government to deliver on its policy promises to voters,” Napon noted. Thaksin’s hands-on approach, visiting rural communities and spending nights in villages, helped cement his image as a leader for the poor. Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee of Chulalongkorn University observed, “He’s easy to approach… That’s how his charisma became recognised.”
But popularity came at a price. Thaksin’s brash style and sweeping reforms unsettled Thailand’s conservative establishment—the military, monarchy loyalists, and Bangkok elite. His family’s $1.9 billion sale of telecom shares in 2006, which many alleged skirted taxes and handed a national asset to foreign investors, triggered mass protests. As BBC recounted, opposition parties boycotted a snap election he called, leading to months of unrest. In September 2006, the military seized power in a coup while Thaksin was abroad, ousting him from office and sending him into self-imposed exile for 15 years.
Despite his absence, Thaksin’s influence endured. Through successive parties—Thai Rak Thai, then People’s Power, and finally Pheu Thai—his proxies and family members, including his sister Yingluck and daughter Paetongtarn, continued to win elections. Yet, as ABC News reported, “six Thai premiers related to or backed by Thaksin have been removed by the military or judiciary,” highlighting the deep-seated resistance to his brand of populism among the country’s power brokers.
Thaksin’s 2023 return to Thailand was as dramatic as his earlier political feats. Greeted by cheering supporters at the airport, he was immediately transferred to prison to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest—convictions he has always insisted were politically motivated. Within hours, citing chest pain and high blood pressure, he was moved to the VIP wing of a hospital. The king soon commuted his sentence to just one year, and after six months in hospital, Thaksin was released on parole.
But the story didn’t end there. On September 9, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that Thaksin’s hospital stay was unlawful, declaring he “knew or could perceive that he was not in a critical or emergency condition.” He was ordered back to jail to serve out the remainder of his sentence, becoming the first ex-premier in Thai history to face imprisonment. The verdict was a stunning reversal for a man who, as Napon put it, “is the most disruptive and polarising figure in Thai politics in recent memory.”
The ruling came amid further turmoil for the Shinawatra dynasty. Just weeks earlier, in August 2025, Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn was dismissed as prime minister by the constitutional court over a controversial leaked phone call with Cambodian leader Hun Sen. The Pheu Thai party, long the standard-bearer for Thaksin’s movement, was decisively beaten in the ensuing power struggle as a breakaway party took control of parliament.
Yet, even as his fortunes waned, Thaksin’s ability to confound observers remained. “He has always been seen as someone who is a mastermind, who would pull off moves that are quite unthinkable until he actually tries and succeeds,” said Napon. “He likes to pull these tricks, right? I think that’s why people are fascinated by him.”
Thaksin himself, in a statement released on social media after the court’s decision, struck a tone of defiance and patriotism: “Even though I lose my physical freedom, I will still have freedom of thought for the benefit of my country and its people. I will maintain my physical and mental strength to spend the rest of my life serving the monarchy, Thailand and the Thai people.”
The path that led Thaksin to this point is littered with both remarkable achievements and bitter controversies. He was the first prime minister to complete a full term in Thailand’s history. His policies lifted millions out of poverty and earned him the adoration of the “red shirts,” his party’s rural base. But he also faced criticism for heavy-handed crackdowns, alleged corruption, and the deepening of Thailand’s political divides. As BBC detailed, his government was accused of suppressing news of a bird flu outbreak and mishandling violence in the largely Muslim south. Yet, each time he seemed cornered, Thaksin found a way to reassert his influence—until now.
Thailand’s political landscape remains as unpredictable as ever. While some believe the Supreme Court’s ruling spells the end of Thaksin’s political clout, others are more cautious. As history has shown, the Shinawatra name has proven remarkably resilient, weathering coups, court rulings, and exile. Whether Thaksin’s latest fall from grace is truly final, or simply another chapter in his ongoing saga, only time will tell. For now, one thing is certain: few figures have shaped—and shaken—modern Thailand as profoundly as Thaksin Shinawatra.
