(Bloomberg) — Thaksin Shinawatra, a two-time former Thai prime minister, was ordered by a court to serve one year in prison to complete a past conviction, the latest in a string of setbacks for the influential politician whose daughter was ousted as prime minister last month.
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions ruled that Thaksin’s six-month stay in a police hospital in 2023, when he began serving a reduced sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, did not count toward his term. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
Thaksin, who was present in the court accompanied by his two daughters, was ordered to be taken to a jail immediately after the court issues a prison warrant.
The court said Thaksin’s transfer from jail to the police hospital was unlawful, and his stay there was unwarranted as he didn’t suffer from any serious illnesses that constituted an emergency as claimed.
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Thaksin, who led Thailand from 2001 until he was ousted in a 2006 coup, said he accepted the ruling and was ready to enter the judicial process.
The jailing of Thaksin, patriarch of the Shinawatra clan, raises questions about the future of one of Thailand’s most influential political families, which has dominated politics for more than two decades. Six prime ministers from parties tied to the family have been removed from office through court rulings or coups.
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The ruling against Thaksin came days after the Thai parliament picked Anutin Charnvirakul, a political rival, as the country’s new prime minister following the ouster of Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethical misconduct.
A rupture in Paetongtarn’s coalition and the subsequent defeat of its prime minister candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri underscored the collapse of a deal between Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party and the conservative establishment. That agreement had allowed Thaksin to return from 15 years of self-imposed exile.
“Even though I will lose my freedom, I will still have freedom of thought for the benefit of the nation and its people,” Thaksin wrote in statement on X. “I will maintain both physical and mental strength to spend the rest of my life serving the monarchy, the land of Thailand, and the Thai people, no matter what my status is from now on.”
Last month, Thaksin was acquitted in a separate royal defamation case, leading to a travel ban being lifted and allowing him to visit Dubai and Singapore.
He spent only a few hours in jail in 2023 before being moved to the hospital to serve an eight-year sentence for corruption and abuse of power, later reduced to one year by a royal pardon. He was released on parole in 2024.
Earlier this year, the Medical Council of Thailand suspended two doctors and reprimanded another after finding they helped justify Thaksin’s transfer out of prison.
–With assistance from Pathom Sangwongwanich, Suttinee Yuvejwattana, Anuchit Nguyen and Janine Panzer.
(Updates with more details throughout.)
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