After a three-month delay, Thailand’s Parliament chose the country’s next prime minister on Tuesday, picking a real estate tycoon from a party seen as acceptable to conservative elites. The move ends, for now, a prolonged period of uncertainty that had pushed the country to the cusp of a political crisis.
The selection of Srettha Thavisin capped a dramatic day in Thailand, where, in the morning, Thaksin Shinawatra, the former premier who was ousted in a coup and has been living in exile since 2006, returned for the first time in 15 years. He was quickly taken into custody, as he was sentenced to prison earlier in connection with three corruption and abuse-of-power cases.
Mr. Srettha is a close ally of Mr. Thaksin, and many analysts had said the former leader’s return reflected the degree of confidence that he has in Pheu Thai — the populist party that he founded in 2007 and…
