If you don't live here or don't follow Thai politics there is a good chance that you don't even know who Thaksin Shinawatra even is and that would be fine since Thailand isn't exactly on the world's stage. His rapid exit from his position as Prime Minister as well as fleeing the country was the first coup in Thailand that I was aware of even though I didn't live here at the time. Basically, the military just took over in the middle of the night one night because they didn't like his policies. Since that time his younger sister Yingluck was also elected to office and she to was ousted before the end of her term as well.
Thanksin has been living in exile out and not returning to Thailand for a long time due to the fact that he fears he will be imprisoned by political enemies. He has been living in self-imposed exile in a number of places and his whereabouts are generally not officially known, but when you are a billionaire, surrendering your passport to the courts doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot and it is rumored that he travels around the world on 6 different passports, none of which are Thai. It is rumored that he lives in safety in Dubai, but Honduras, China, Nicaragua, and the Bahamas are also suspected. Several of these countries offered him citizenship that almost certainly would have come with financial riders. This is all just my opinion of course.
I don't really have an opinion about the guy but I know that he is a polarizing figure kind of like Donald Trump here in Thailand. People in conservative rural areas love and loved the guy and people in metro areas loathe him. I don't really know about his policies but I have heard that he did a lot of favors for poor farmers and enacted policies that annoyed or outraged the corporate elite - which is ironic because he and his family are actually corporate elite themselves and regularly get accused of insider trading and other such corporate crimes.
He isn't exactly on the run, but he has been fearful of returning to Thailand since around 2008 fearing his political enemies would go to great lengths to see him and his family in prison. He is an extremely wealthy man and some people in the UK may have briefly heard his name mentioned when he purchased Manchester City only to later sell it for around a $200 million profit. He's no financial fool, that's for sure.
Although he has vowed to never personally enter Thai politics in the future which is probably a good thing seeing as how he is creeping up on 80 years of age, there is no denying his political clout and opposing parties would probably not be pleased if he were to return, especially given the political turmoil that already exists in the Kingdom.
At the moment the story of his return to Thailand was put online by a family member indicating that he would return on the 10th of August even if it means he is facing potential jail time. This sort of promise has been rumored before and didn't come to fruition, so anyone out there that is hoping that it will definitely happen better not hold their breath.
I suppose coming back now would probably be the safest time for him because the country is already on the cusp of political overthrow yet again and any action taken against Thaksin might be a tipping point. This country doesn't need another coup yet it is undeniable that the government here is corrupt as hell and holds on to power by a thread.
It certainly would be interesting to see what happens if he does come back though because a lot of people are fed up with the government that they currently have and Thanksin, even though he has promised to not get involved in politics, could perhaps unite a large group of people politically. Again, this is just my opinion.