The military took power while Thaksin was at the UN in New York
Born in 1949 in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Mr Thaksin started his career as a police officer. In 1973, he received a government scholarship to study for a masters degree in criminal justice in the United States.
When he returned he went into business and during the late 1980s began building a successful telecommunications empire. He founded the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party in 1998, and its rapid emergence transformed Thai politics.
Mr Thaksin swept into office in 2001, soundly defeating the old guard from the Democrat Party.
Poorer voters liked his offers of cheap medical care and debt relief, his nationalist platform and his contempt for the "Bangkok elite".
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