Previously, the court ordered that Pita be suspended as an MP. It had reviewed a case from the Election Commission recommending he be disqualified as a lawmaker over a complaint that he had applied to run for office while owning shares of a now-defunct media company – a violation of election laws.

Ousted & fugitive former premier #Thaksin tweeted Mon afternoon he will definitely be back in #Thailand tom at.9am. "I would like to seek your permission to be back in Thailand to live on Thai soil & breath the same air as my Thai brothers and sisters," Thaksin wrote.
“Since Thaksin is elderly, prison doctors will determine if he needs to be under the close care of doctors or not. If he is found to have a chronic condition, doctors will decide whether he should be detained in the prison hospital,” it reported.

“Once inside prison, wardens will consider allowing him to only be visited by close relatives during the initial period of his detention,” it added.

Thailand’s Pheu Thai allies with military rivals to form new government

Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai Party has formed a coalition with 10 other parties, including two allied with its former military rivals, in a bid to form a new government and end three months of political deadlock.

Pheu Thai is expected to nominate real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin as the country’s next leader.

The party came second in Thailand’s May 14 election, but took over the formation of government after conservative members of an unelected upper house blocked attempts by Move Forward – the progressive party that won the vote – from securing the top job for their candidate.

Srettha, 60, a political newcomer, will need the support of 375 legislators, or more than half the combined upper and lower houses of parliament, to be endorsed as prime minister and form the next government.

Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew told reporters that its new coalition has the backing of 10 other parties, including the United Thai Nation Party affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the Palang Pracharat Party of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

The Bangkok Post website said the 11-party coalition backing Pheu Thai’s Srettha has 314 votes in the 500-member lower house. Pheu Thai is the largest party in the coalition, with 141 votes.

Pheu Thai party’s prime ministerial candidate Srettha Thavisin said today (Monday) that he has had to renege on promises he made during the election campaign, namely that his party would not partner with either Palang Pracharath or United Thai Nation.
He said that he made the pledge on the expectation that the Pheu Thai party would win a landslide victory, but it didn’t and the political mathematics have changed as a result.

He tried to explain that he had not lied to the people, saying that the party had worked in opposition for the past nine years and the people’s standard of living dropped, “so, it is necessary to forget what we said”.

During his press conference, held after meeting with Pheu Thai MPs this afternoon, the former real estate tycoon said he told them of the need for a government to be set up as quickly as possible, so its policies can be realised.

He said he asked the MPs to try to explain to their constituents why the party is breaking its election promises in order to form a government.

He admitted to feeling humiliated by the criticism on social media over the party’s political machinations, adding “but we are living in reality. Many people are waiting for the government and for the policies of the party, which cannot be implemented without a government led by the Pheu Thai party.”

On Tuesday, Thaksin is expected to return to Thailand — ostensibly after making a deal with the same military-backed establishment that spent years overturning his party’s election victories through coups and court decisions.

“Tomorrow at 9 o’clock I would like to request permission to return to live in Thailand and breathe the same air as the Thai brothers and sisters,” Thaksin said on X on Monday. Last week, his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra said he would arrive at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport at 9 a.m.

Thaksin’s arrival will coincide with a vote for prime minister later in the day, after his party officially joined forces with conservative groups previously aligned with former Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, a former army chief who had led a 2014 coup against ex-leader Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister. The bloc’s candidate to become prime minister is Srettha Thavisin, a member of the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai party who spent years in the real estate industry.

The awkward 11-party alliance emerged after both camps saw their interests align in the wake of a May election that produced a stunning win for Move Forward, a party that advocated changes to a law forbidding criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and other top royals. The royalist parties wanted to keep Move Forward out of power, while Thaksin sought to strike a deal that would allow him to return to Thailand after 15 years of shuttling between Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and London.

“Pheu Thai is the most powerful party to battle the emergence of Move Forward, after the electoral defeat of the conservative parties,” said Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. “As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Thaksin himself will likely head straight to jail, as he was found guilty in absentia in four corruption cases and still faces 10 years in prison. The Bangkok Post reported that Thaksin would be taken to the Supreme Court immediately after landing, after which he would be taken to prison.

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been escorted to prison, shortly after he flew into Bangkok by private jet, ending more than 15 years spent in exile.

Crowds of jubilant supporters, many dressed in red and carrying welcome signs, gathered at an airport in Bangkok to greet Thaksin, who has dominated Thai politics for more than two decades as the billionaire figurehead of the populist Pheu Thai party.

Thaksin arrived with his three children and waved at the media after his jet landed at Don Muang airport on Tuesday morning, hours before his allies contest a parliamentary vote in an attempt to form a government.

Thailand has been under a caretaker government since March and its new parliament has been deadlocked for weeks after the anti-establishment winner of a May election, Move Forward, was blocked by conservative lawmakers, leaving Pheu Thai to lead a fresh effort.

The supreme court said Thaksin would serve eight years in prison, but many commentators have speculated that his arrival in the country coincides with his party’s likely return to office, and that a deal may mean he does not have to serve a full sentence. His age could also mean he is granted some leniency.