Thaksin’s Presence Shows Political Influence, Say Analysts

FILE - Thai telecommunication tycoon and leader of Thai Rak Thai Party Thaksin Shinawatra waves during campaign rally in Bangkok, Dec. 26, 2000. The controversial former Prime Minister of Thailand, returned to Thailand last year after nearly a decade of self-imposed exile.

Since Thaksin Shinawatra’s late-February parole from a police hospital in Bangkok, public support for Thailand’s former prime minister has been evident.