Former Thai PM Thaksin to receive verdict on royal insult case in late August

Bangkok - Thailand’s billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra will hear a verdict on a royal insult case on Aug 22, his lawyer said on July 16 – the first in a series of challenges against him and his daughter, suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, whose government hangs by a thread.

Thaksin faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted in the closed-door trial in Bangkok, in which he stands accused of breaching strict lese majeste laws shielding Thailand’s royal family from abuse and criticism.

For the past quarter-century, the 75-year-old telecommunications magnate has been a defining figure in Thai politics, founding a political dynasty that has jousted with the traditional pro-royal, pro-military elite.

But his prosecution – along with the

suspension of his daughter Paetongtarn

two weeks ago – represents a dramatic waning of the family’s political fortune, analysts say.

The prosecution’s case revolves around remarks Thaksin made to South Korean media a decade ago, with the defendant due to give at least three days of testimony.

Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chatmontri told reporters: “We are confident that we will receive justice.”

Around 50 Thaksin supporters gathered at the courthouse wearing red shirts – the colour of his political movement – emblazoned with a portrait of his face.

“He is a very talented guy,” 79-year-old retired accountant Vaew Wilailak told AFP. “But from past experience, bad people just want to get rid of him.”

Thaksin

returned to Thailand in August 2023

after 15 years in exile, following a military coup that ousted him from the prime minister’s office he had won in two elections.

He returned on the day his family’s Pheu Thai party took office at the head of

a coalition government

backed by their conservative former enemies, fuelling suspicions that a backroom deal had been struck.

Thaksin was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison on graft and abuse of power charges – later

reduced to one year by a pardon

from King Maha Vajiralongkorn in another apparent sign of reconciliation.

But political analyst Yuttaporn Issarachai told AFP: “There is always someone within the establishment who sees him as a threat to Thai society.”

In recent interviews, Thaksin affirmed his loyalty to the monarchy and expressed gratitude for the King’s pardon.

Speaking to AFP outside the court on the opening day of the trial on July 1, Mr Winyat said his client appeared “chill” despite the seriousness of the case.

On the same day, Ms Paetongtarn was suspended by the Constitutional Court pending an ethics probe into her conduct during a

leaked diplomatic phone call

discussing a deadly border clash between Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia.

In the call, she referred to Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen as “uncle” and described a Thai military commander as an “opponent”, sparking backlash for seeming to kowtow to a foreign statesman and undermining her own country’s military.

Pheu Thai’s coalition has been abandoned by key conservative backers over the phone call, leaving it with a razor-thin parliamentary majority steered by a caretaker prime minister. AFP, REUTERS