Former Thai PM Thaksin begins first full day in prison

BANGKOK – Thailand’s influential former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra began his first full day in prison on Sept 10, after a court ruled that he had

improperly served a previous jail term in hospital.

Thaksin’s political clan has for two decades been the key foe of Thailand’s pro-military, pro-royalty elite, who view the Shinawatra populist brand as a threat to traditional social order.

The dynasty’s momentum is flagging after a litany of legal and political setbacks, culminating in Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn being ousted in August from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Sept 9 Supreme Court ruling deals one of the most painful blows yet to Thailand’s biggest political heavyweight, as judges ordered that the 76-year-old be taken to Bangkok Remand Prison.

He was later that day transferred to Klong Prem prison, where he is expected to serve the rest of his one-year term, according to a statement from the Corrections Department.

The department offered no further updates on Sept 10 regarding Thaksin’s case.

Thaksin was elected prime minister in 2001 and again in 2005, and took himself into exile after his second term was cut short by a military coup.

After returning in August 2023, he was sentenced to eight years for corruption and abuse of power.

But he never spent a night in a cell – he was whisked to a private hospital room and his sentence was reduced to one year by royal pardon, before he was freed in an early release scheme for elderly prisoners.

The timing of his return and his medical transfer, which coincided with his Pheu Thai Party forming a new government, had fuelled public suspicion of a backroom deal and allegations of special treatment.

The Supreme Court on Sept 9 ruled that the enforcement of his prison sentence was unlawful and that he had not been suffering from a critical emergency condition. AFP