Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he was acquitted of royal defamation by a court on Friday, in a case that could have sent him to prison for up

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.

Thailand’s suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra testified in court on a petition seeking her removal for alleged ethical misconduct, days before a ruling that could deepen the nation’s political crisis.