Thaksin Shinawatra joins Thailand’s establishment

For the past 20 years, Thai politics has been largely defined by a feud. After winning elections in 2001 and 2005, Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist prime minister, was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He spent 15 years in self-imposed exile, dodging an eight-year prison sentence for corruption and abuse of power. Then, in a stunning development last year, Mr Thaksin returned to Thailand. This fuelled speculation that he had cut a deal with his former nemesis, the country’s powerful conservative establishment, a nexus of royal, military and business elites. After serving only a tiny portion of his original sentence in detention—and not a single night in jail—he was duly released on parole on February 18th from a military hospital.