Thai ex-PM Thaksin has second surgery in weeks
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Jailed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was recovering in a neurological intensive care unit.
PHOTO: AFP
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Bangkok - Jailed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has undergone orthopaedic surgery, prison officials said – his second operation in the space of a few weeks.
The 74-year-old billionaire, ousted as prime minister in a 2006 coup, returned to Thailand from 15 years of self-exile in August and was immediately jailed on old graft and abuse of power charges.
Thaksin was transferred to a police hospital
The Department of Corrections said late on Monday that Thaksin had undergone five hours of orthopaedic surgery earlier that day.
He was recovering in a neurological intensive care unit, the statement added, without giving more details.
“The director-general of the Department of Corrections has ordered the Bangkok Remand Prison chief to supervise the operation,” it said.
Thaksin’s homecoming coincided with his Pheu Thai Party’s return to power – thanks to a controversial deal with pro-military parties – prompting rumours of a backroom pact.
Days later, King Maha Vajiralongkorn cut Thaksin’s sentence from eight years to one.
Local media reported that Thaksin had been suffering from chest tightness and high blood pressure, and 10 days ago published a photo of him being transferred in a bed from the police hospital for computerised tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans. AFP
