The Criminal Court on Saturday granted bail to Sakoltee Phattiyakul after he was arrested by immigration police on his return to Thailand from the United States.
Mr Sakoltee emerges from the lockup where he was held briefly on Saturday before arranging bail of 600,000 on multiple charges that include insurrection. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
Under the conditions of his 600,000-baht bail, Mr Sakoltee, 37, is not allowed to leave the country or take part in activities to incite instability.
Even though he was facing an arrest warrant, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) co-leader had managed to leave the country.
Immigration police detained him after he returned from the United States via South Korea at 11.30pm on Friday.
He faces charges of trespassing at government offices, obstructing elections and insurrection. More charges will likely to be filed.
One possible additional charge relates to blocking the voided general election on Feb 2, said Tarit Pengdith, the head of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
Mr Sakoltee has denied all the charges.
The DSI issued the arrest warrant after Mr Sakoltee and other protesters blocked Software Park on Chaeng Watthana Road in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi.
The warrant was issued by the Pak Kret police station on March 25 and the case was forwarded to the DSI on April 9.
Mr Sakoltee said he was not aware that he was on the wanted list when he left Bangkok for the US on April 16, saying that he only knew that police had summoned him for talks.
His trip abroad raised questions about why he was not detained at the airport immediately when he attempted to depart the country on April 16.
Mr Tarit said he did not want to point fingers at any agency. The warrant might not have been in the computerised system when Mr Sakoltee checked in at the airport, he added.
Mr Tarit, who is the secretary-general of the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order, warned that the centre would go after other protesters under the arrest warrants.
Pol Maj Yutthana Phraedum, a special case officer of the DSI, admitted that his agency did not know that Mr Sakoltee was under the arrest warrant until the DSI was alerted by the Immigration Bureau.
Mr Sakoltee is a son of Gen Winai Phattiyakul, a former defence permanent secretary and secretary-general of the Council of National Security, the body set up to run the country after the 2006 coup.