Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will serve a one-year prison sentence, after the country’s top court ruled that his previous hospital stay does not count as time served.
Source: Thairath – ไทยรัฐออนไลน์ on Facebook
The decision comes two weeks after his daughter’s ousting and his political party’s failure to secure the premiership.
According to Reuters, the Supreme Court determined that Thaksin was aware he was not in critical condition and did not require hospitalisation.
At around 9.30am on Tuesday (9 Sept), Thaksin, accompanied by his family including daughter Paetongtarn, appeared at the Supreme Court to hear the ruling.
The court was assessing whether his extended stay in a private room at Police General Hospital qualified as serving his one-year sentence.
Source: Bloomberg
The 76-year-old former leader had spent 15 years in self-imposed exile following his forcible removal from office in 2006 amid corruption allegations.
Upon his return in 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for conflict of interest, abuse of power, and corruption.
His sentence was later commuted to one year through royal clemency.
Although Thaksin was initially placed in Bangkok Remand Prison, he spent only 13 hours there before being transferred to a VIP suite at Police General Hospital, citing “tightness in his chest, high blood pressure, and low oxygen levels”.
He remained in the hospital until 2024, when he was released on parole.
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions ruled that Thaksin’s hospital stay does not constitute time served, ordering him to complete the one-year sentence at Bangkok Remand Prison.
According to the Bangkok Post, the court found that Thaksin’s medical conditions — including spondylolisthesis (slipped spinal bone), heart disease, and hepatitis B — did not require emergency treatment.
The court noted several factors influencing its decision: a cardiologist did not examine Thaksin until nearly 24 hours after his reported chest tightness, and evidence suggested he did not experience true chest pain.
Other claims, including stroke, cervical spondylosis, trigger finger, and a ruptured shoulder tendon, were dismissed.
“This behaviour indicated that the defendant was aware that he had no emergency illnesses. The defendant only had underlying illnesses which could be treated as an outpatient without staying at Police General Hospital,” the court said.
Thaksin took to social media to accept the ruling, expressing gratitude that his sentence had been commuted to just one year.
A Thai political analyst observed that leniency for Thaksin would not be unexpected given his age.
“Even serving a day in jail, runs counter to all that he has done in the last 19 years, which is to go into exile, to manoeuvre, to try to outmanoeuvre his opponents,” said the Chulalongkorn University political scientist. “Even a day in jail is dramatic for him.”
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Featured image adapted from Thairath – ไทยรัฐออนไลน์ on Facebook.