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He arrived at the VIP terminal at Suvarnabhumi international airport, which he helped finish building but did not get to see become operational.
As Mr Thaksin emerged to a huge roar from the crowd, he fell to his knees and prostrated himself, placing his palms and forehead on the ground.
Then he greeted his supporters with a wai - a traditional Thai greeting - before being whisked away in a convoy to the Supreme Court.
At an afternoon press conference, Mr Thaksin, accompanied by his wife and three children, said he had returned to fight the legal charges levelled against him by the previous military regime, which had overthrown him in September 2006.
'Almost every member of my family and I have been accused of various wrongdoings without the international standard of legal due process,' he said in a written statement in English released at the press conference.
He spoke in Thai and did not take any questions.
Mr Thaksin said he had come back because Thailand had returned to a democratically-elected government but insisted that he was not interested in politics.
He said had not returned earlier because he was concerned about security.
The current six-party coalition government is led by the People Power party, comprising Thaksin loyalists.
Its emergence as the single largest party from last December's elections would have emboldened him to return soon after the government was formed, analysts said.
'I am a patriotic Thai... and wish to see a united and harmonious Thailand,' Mr Thaksin said.
'We can certainly have different opinions on various things, but we shall not be divided.'
He added: 'My family and I have no desire to seek revenge against anyone. I wish to live quietly and peacefully with my family.'
Earlier at the court, he acknowledged charges of corruption over the purchase from the state by his wife of a prime piece of land in Bangkok while he was prime minister.
He posted eight million baht (S$375,000) bail and agreed to seek the court's permission whenever he wanted to leave Thailand.
He also posted bail of one million baht at the Attorney-General's office over a charge of alleged concealment of shareholdings in the family-run property firm, SC Asset Corporation.
Later yesterday, he was due to pay his respects to the late Princess Galyani Vadhana, the King's elder sister who is lying in state after she died two months ago.
It was a symbolic gesture as his critics had accused him of disrespect for Thailand's monarchy.
Many people had gathered hours before the Thai Airways flight arrived with Mr Thaksin, his son, a few of his innermost circle and two footballers from Manchester City, which he bought last year.
Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and midfielder Kelvin Etuhu will be holding soccer clinics for Thai youth - part of an ambitious plan to make the English club a household name in Asia and also promote Thai football.
One of those who were at the airport was IBM employee Somkiat Kavmate, 48.
He told The Straits Times while he had not been a Thaksin supporter before, he had come to the conclusion that he had 'never seen a prime minister work so hard for the country'.
