Former PM Thaksin plans to return to Thailand in August

Thailand's self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra plans to return to the country on August 10, his daughter said on Wednesday, facing a potential jail term amid a prolonged political crisis following a May general election.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a social media post, "dad is returning on Aug 10 at Don Muang Airport," She added, This decision to come home is something that dad has seriously spoken about since the beginning of 2022."

Earlier Thaksin (74) and the Pheu Thai party backed by his billionaire family remain popular among Thailand's working and rural masses, coming in second in the May 14 poll. Pheu Thai is trying to form a government and is expected to nominate a candidate for prime minister in the coming days.

He was premier from 2001 until his ousting in a 2006 coup and now lives in self-imposed exile after fleeing Thailand to avoid a jail sentence for graft in 2008.

Meanwhile Thailand's deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn said Thaksin would be subject to the judicial process upon his planned return.

He faces up to 10 years in jail for multiple cases in which he was convicted by the country's supreme court. 

"The police will conduct their duties normally when the plane lands. He will have to go to court and listen to what they decide," Surachate told Reuters.