Thai Court Jails Former PM Thaksin for Illegal Hospital Stay

Thai politics has seen some dramatic changes in recent weeks and that pattern continued on Tuesday (Sept 9), when former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra shocked his many detractors by returning to face a court verdict that many predicted would see him jailed.

Thaksin, who dominated politics in Thailand for two decades, flew out of Bangkok last Friday in his private jet for a flight allegedly aimed at seeing a doctor in Singapore. When his plane suddenly changed course and headed toward Dubai, where he lived in exile for 15 years, it was widely assumed he wanted to avoid prison, once again.

But Thaksin returned to Bangkok and finally faced the music. This morning he went to the Supreme Court, where judges ruled that the six months he spent in hospital ‘detention’ after his return from self-imposed exile in August 2023 was an attempt to avoid jail. So, they ordered him to go back to prison for 12 months.

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Bid to put conflicts behind him

ThaiPBS, the independent public broadcaster, reported that Thaksin’s team posted a message from him on his social media platforms after the ruling, saying: “Today I choose to look forward, to bringing closure to what has passed, both the legal battles and the conflicts connected to me.”

He said his time as premier, when he pushed for policies aimed at improving people’s quality of life and transforming the country’s political landscape “remains my greatest source of pride, as [a] politician elected by the people.”

He thanked people for their support and members of Pheu Thai Party, plus friends and allies who stood by him through good times and bad, saying his decision to accept this path aimed to encourage people to move forward together, until the day they can walk side by side again.

Analysts say the wealthy powerbroker has been forced to accept his fate, so he and his family can close the door on an era of enormous turbulence created by his battle with the country’s ‘elite’, which saw about 100 people killed in red-shirt riots in 2010 and thousands eliminated in his 2003 “War on Drugs” and a brutal crackdown in the far South.

Thaksin’s popularity and brash character put him on a collision course with an old guard of conservatives, generals and old money families with sway over key institutions, and an eagerness to clip his wings.

The military staged a coup to oust Thaksin in September 2006, then removed his sister Yingluck as PM after a contentious amnesty bill was submitted to parliament in late 2013, a move that spurred a further spate of street clashes and upheaval. The second coup led to nine years of military rule and further rewrites of the constitution.

‘Chest pains weren’t serious’

Immediately after his return two years ago, Thaksin received an eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power when he was premier from 2001-2006.

But the polarising billionaire only spent a few hours in Bangkok Remand Centre before complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread scepticism and outrage.

His eight-year term was later commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin released on parole after just six months of “detention” – in the VIP wing of the Police Hospital.

Today, the judges said Thaksin had no severe illness and could have been treated in jail, adding that both he and his doctors had intentionally prolonged his hospital stay.

“The defendant knew the facts, or was aware the situation was not a critical emergency. The defendant only had a chronic condition that could be treated as an outpatient and did not require hospitalisation,” it said.

Shortly after, a Corrections Department vehicle carrying Thaksin was seen arriving at a Bangkok jail less than an hour after a ruling that gripped the country, and was covered live on many TV channels.

Indeed, it is the latest drama in two weeks of political chaos that saw the fall of another Thaksin-backed populist government.

The 76-year-old former police officer and telecoms magnate is experiencing a period of political reckoning, after his daughter and protégé Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court on August 29 – the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.

Paetongtarn’s government fell on Friday, outmanoeuvred by challenger Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected premier by parliament in a humiliating defeat for Thaksin’s once unstoppable Pheu Thai party, which won five of the past six elections.

Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul reacts next to members of the media after he was elected Thailand's new prime minister at the parliament — Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul was elected as Thailand’s new PM last Friday, after a court ousted Paetongtarn Shinawatra for an ethics violation (Reuters).

First PM to be jailed since the mid 1940s

Thaksin, who has loomed large over Thai politics throughout a quarter of a century of turmoil, is Thailand’s first former premier to be sent to prison since Plaek Phibulsongkram was jailed briefly after the Second World War.

He accepted the verdict and said he would remain strong.

“Today, I may no longer have freedom, but have freedom of thought to create benefit for the country and people,” Thaksin said in a statement on social media.

Thaksin’s immediate family attended the verdict with him. An emotional Paetongtarn said she was concerned about her father, but also proud.

“My dad has created history for the country, including useful policies that benefited the people,” she told reporters.

“Today is another historic day where he is the first prime minister to go to jail. This is quite heavy.”

Kokaew Pikulthong, a Pheu Thai lawmaker who was in the court, said Thaksin “still has the fighting spirit.”

Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political science professor at Ubon Ratchathani University, said that despite the jailing and the Shinawatra family’s declining influence, the indomitable Thaksin would still attempt to call the shots in politics.

“Even with the one-year sentence, it doesn’t mean that he would completely withdraw from politics. He’ll still likely play a role within Pheu Thai,” he said.

“I still have doubts that he would spend the whole year in jail, as there are still legal ways to cut his sentence. And we have seen that he did try everything to stay out of jail.”