Thailand's influential ex-PM Thaksin eyes July return from exile

FILE PHOTO: Thailand's former premier Thaksin Shinawatra speaks during a group interview in Tokyo August 23, 2011. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday he would return home in July after 17 years in self-imposed exile, just days ahead of an election his party is expected to win.

Although Thaksin, arguably Thailand's most influential and divisive former leader, has failed to make good on numerous pledges to return, his remarks on Twitter were the first time in recent years that he has set a timeframe.