Loved and loathed in almost equal measure, Thaksin Shinawatra transformed Thai politics in the early 2000s with populist policies that won him and his party loyalty from the rural masses.

But that success came at a cost: he and his family were despised by Thailand's powerful elites and a conservative establishment who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and socially destabilising.

On Tuesday the 76-year-old was finally ordered to serve one year in prison, the culmination of a tortuous legal saga that may have dealt a crippling blow to his dynasty's hold over Thai politics.

It is the latest turbulent chapter that has seen his political fortunes rise and fall over the past two decades.

Elected prime minister in 2001 and again in 2005, Thaksin was ousted by the army in 2006 and took hi

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