FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Thailand began a new era Monday, with the tantalizing prospect of an end to the violent strife that has wracked the country for more than five years, following Yingluck Shinawatra’s overwhelming victory in Sunday’s general election.

Her win was an embarrassing defeat for Thailand’s urban elite and military, widely blamed for last year’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests that left 92 people dead, and a resounding vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Democrat Party over their handling of the economy.

Importantly, though, it was also a win for Yingluck’s older brother Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted from power by the military, and sentenced in absentia to two years imprisonment for corruption. Thaksin is widely expected to receive an amnesty, paving the way home from a life in exile in Dubai. Read more in The Diplomat.