BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Supreme Court said former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra must serve a one-year prison term for previous convictions on graft and abuse of power charges, after investigating whether officials had mishandled his return to Thailand in 2023 to begin serving the sentences.
A judge said that the enforcement of Thaksin’s penalty was not done properly, and therefore his detention in a police hospital did not count as serving prison time.
Following his return to Thailand after more than a decade of living in self-exile, Thaksin was sent to a suite at Bangkok’s Police General Hospital, reportedly for medical reasons, after spending less than a day in prison.
His eight-year sentence was then commuted to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and he was released on parole after six months in the hospital.
The circumstances raised questions about whether he received special treatment and many were suspicious whether he was genuinely ill.
Before the ruling, Thaksin arrived at the court with his family, including two of his children, Pintongta Shinawatra, and former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was removed from her position last month after a court found her guilty of an ethics violation for a politically compromising phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen.
Paetongtarn spoke to reporters after the ruling, thanking the king for commuting Thaksin’s sentence. She said Thaksin would remain a spiritual leader in Thai politics and that he always thinks about working for the good of the country and Thai people.
“I’m worried about my father, but I’m also proud that he has created so many historic moments for the country,” she said. “It’s quite tough, but of course we are still in a good spirit, both my father and our family.”
Thaksin is expected to be sent to the Bangkok Remand Prison following the ruling.
