As a fugitive from Thai justice, Mr Thaksin has had to live in exile for the past few years, but if his return to his homeland seems a case of special treatment, or a matter of being let off the charges against him, that will surely provoke a backlash from the yellow shirts and their ilk.

ECONOMIST: The prime minister must preach moderation

But there are also homecomings as terrible in their way as exile: parents who finally reclaim children from orphanages, but live out their relationships in stigma and silence, for ever hoarding food and quailing before policemen.

ECONOMIST: The Soviet Union

Mr Milosz once wrote that exile is the worst fate that may befall a poet, since poetry cannot live without its roots in native speech.

ECONOMIST: Translating poetry is impossible but worthwhile