Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire former prime minister of Thailand, remains one of the country’s most influential and controversial figures nearly two decades after being ousted in a 2006 military coup.

The Supreme Court said Thaksin’s detention in a VIP wing of a hospital in lieu of prison was unlawful in another blow for his politically powerful family.

The polarising billionaire had spent only a few hours in prison in August 2023 before he was hospitalised after complaining of heart trouble and chest pains.