Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, center, greets his supporters after landing at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport, Tuesday. Shinawatra bowed in homage to the Thai king's portrait as he returned to the kingdom Tuesday after 15 years in exile, before being led away by officials to be processed on multiple outstanding criminal cases. AFP-Yonhap



BANGKOK (AFP) - Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the kingdom Tuesday after 15 years in exile and was immediately jailed, just hours before his party's candidate was elected prime minister.



The Supreme Court ordered the 74-year-old billionaire to serve eight years on old graft charges, though it is not clear how much time he will serve behind bars, as his Pheu Thai party forms the government and rumors swirl of a deal for leniency.



Thaksin, loved and loathed in almost equal measure in Thailand, landed in a private jet at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport Tuesday morning, and was greeted by hundreds of noisy "Red Shirt" supporters waving banners and singing songs.



He emerged briefly to bow and offer a floral garland at a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a mark of respect before waving to supporters.



More Red Shirts lined the streets as the former Manchester City owner was taken to the Supreme Court.



There he was ordered to serve eight years for three convictions passed in his absence ― one linked to his former Shin Corp company, another linked to a bank loan, and a lottery case.



Just hours after he landed, parliament approved business tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister at the head of a coalition led by the Pheu Thai party ― the latest incarnation of Thaksin's political movement.



"I will try my best and work tirelessly to improve the quality of life for Thai people," Srettha told reporters after he was confirmed as the kingdom's 30th prime minister.



Pheu Thai's controversial alliance includes parties from its old enemies in the military ― which ousted both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck as prime minister.



This has led to widespread speculation of a backroom arrangement with Thailand's powerful pro-military royalist establishment to let Thaksin off lightly ― though Pheu Thai has denied such a deal.



Loved and loathed



Thaksin will spend his first days in prison in isolation because of health problems, but his family will be able to visit him after five days, the Department of Corrections said.



Asked about the possibility of a royal pardon, the deputy director of the Department of Corrections Sithi Suthiwong told reporters Thaksin could apply, and the process took "about one to two months, if the documents are sufficient."



For all his long absence from the country, Thaksin remains Thailand's most influential ― and controversial ― politician of modern times.



His career has included two election victories, defeat in a coup, criminal charges and the long years of self-imposed exile.



Loved by the rural poor for policies including cheap healthcare and the minimum wage, he is reviled by the pro-military and royalist elite who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to Thai social order.



Parties linked to Thaksin have dominated elections since 2001 ― until this year, when the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats.



Hundreds of Red Shirts waited through the night at the airport to welcome him with songs and banners ― most decked out in their usual crimson colors.



"I am a real Red Shirt ― whenever they want our support, I will always be there for them," Karuna Wantang, 70, a retired bureaucrat from Nongkai, in the country's northeast, told AFP.



"I don't only like him but I love him."



PM vote



Srettha sailed through the confirmation ballot in parliament with 482 votes in favor to 165 against and 81 abstentions.



His victory ends three months of political deadlock and wrangling after MFP beat Pheu Thai into second place in May's polls.



The Thai stock market rallied 20 points on news of the appointment, while shares in Sansiri, the property company he used to helm, rose almost 7.5 percent.



Despite winning most seats, MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat saw his bid to become prime minister sunk by conservative junta-appointed senators, who were spooked by his party's determination to reform royal insult laws and tackle business monopolies.



After Srettha's confirmation, Pita pledged on social media that MFP would work in opposition to be "the political institution that people can trust."



The new coalition has outraged many Pheu Thai supporters, and Aaron Connelly, a Southeast Asian politics expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the party would expect a payoff.



"If he (Thaksin) doesn't receive a royal pardon within a certain amount of time then they might begin to question whether they entered a coalition under false pretences," he told AFP.



