Ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra returns to county after 15 years in exile

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has returned to Thailand after 15 years in exile, hours ahead of a vote that determines who will be the country's next leader.

Thailand's most successful elected leader has long been feared by conservative royalists, who have backed military coups and contentious court cases to weaken him.

Mr Shinawatra was immediately taken to the Supreme Court where he was handed an eight-year prison sentence, and then to Bangkok Remand Prison. No-one expects him to stay in custody long.