Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) and the telecommunications conglomerate Shin Corporation in 1987, making him one of the wealthiest individuals in Thailand. He founded the Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT) in 1998 and became prime minister following a landslide election victory in 2001. He was the first democratically elected prime minister of Thailand to serve a full term and was re-elected in 2005.

During his tenure, Thaksin launched a controversial "war on drugs" that resulted in over 2,000 extrajudicial killings, drawing widespread criticism from human rights organizations. His administration implemented major poverty-reduction programs, expanded infrastructure, and introduced universal healthcare coverage, while taking a strong-arm approach to the South Thailand insurgency.

In 2006, the tax-free sale of his family's shares in Shin Corporation sparked mass protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy ("Yellow Shirts"), accusing him of corruption, abuse of power, and autocratic tendencies. Thaksin called a snap election in 2006 that was boycotted by opposition parties and subsequently invalidated by the Constitutional Court.

Thaksin was deposed in a military coup on 19 September 2006. His party was outlawed, and he was banned from political activity. He spent 15 years in self-imposed exile, during which he was convicted in absentia for abuse of power, and had his police rank revoked.