Thai Court Orders Ex-PM Thaksin to Serve One Year in Prison

In a landmark ruling, Thailand’s Supreme Court has sentenced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to one year behind bars, determining that his extended stay in a hospital VIP wing did not count towards serving his previously commuted sentence. The decision marks a dramatic setback for a figure who has dominated Thai politics, both triumphantly and controversially, for over two decades.

Thaksin’s original eight-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, handed down upon his 2023 return after 15 years in self-imposed exile, was reduced to one year by royal clemency. However, he was released on parole after spending six months in hospital rather than actual prison, an arrangement widely seen as suspicious.

In its verdict, the court stated that neither Thaksin nor his doctors faced a “critical emergency,” and that the hospital stay appeared strategically prolonged, rendering it illegitimate as a substitute for prison time.

Following the ruling, Thaksin was escorted to Klong Prem Central Prison in Bangkok to begin serving his sentence. In a social media statement, the 76-year-old acknowledged the loss of his physical freedom while asserting, “I still have freedom of thought to contribute to my country and its people.”

The conviction adds to the woes of the Shinawatra political dynasty. Just days earlier, Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from the prime ministership by the constitutional court, her being the sixth leader associated with the family ousted by judicial or military means. With the Shinawatras’ longstanding influence in turmoil, the drama underscores the fraught power struggle between populist forces and the military-royalist establishment in Thailand.

Sources: Reuters, Associated Press.