Thailand’s ex-PM Thaksin jailed on return from exile
Published: 04:08 PM,Aug 22,2023 | EDITED : 08:08 PM,Aug 22,2023
BANGKOK: Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned to the kingdom on Tuesday after 15 years in exile and was immediately jailed, just hours before his party’s candidate was elected prime minister.
The Supreme Court ordered the 74-year-old billionaire to serve eight years on old graft charges, though it is not clear how much time he will serve behind bars, as his Pheu Thai party forms the government and rumours swirl of a deal for leniency.
Thaksin, loved and loathed in almost equal measure in Thailand, landed in a private jet at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport on Tuesday morning, and was greeted by hundreds of noisy “Red Shirt” supporters waving banners and singing songs.
He emerged briefly to bow and offer a floral garland at a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a mark of respect before waving to supporters.
More Red Shirts lined the streets as the former Manchester City owner was taken to the Supreme Court.
There he was ordered to serve eight years for three convictions passed in his absence — one linked to his former Shin Corp company, another linked to a bank loan, and a lottery case.
Just hours after he landed, parliament approved business tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister at the head of a coalition led by the Pheu Thai party — the latest incarnation of Thaksin’s political movement.
“I will try my best and work tirelessly to improve the quality of life for Thai people,” Srettha told reporters after he was confirmed as the kingdom’s 30th prime minister. Pheu Thai’s controversial alliance includes parties from its old enemies in the military — which ousted both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck as prime minister.
This has led to widespread speculation of a backroom arrangement with Thailand’s powerful pro-military royalist establishment to let Thaksin off lightly — though Pheu Thai has denied such a deal.
Thaksin will spend his first days in prison in isolation because of health problems, but his family will be able to visit him after five days, the Department of Corrections said.
Asked about the possibility of a royal pardon, the deputy director of the Department of Corrections Sithi Suthiwong told reporters Thaksin could apply, and the process took “about one to two months, if the documents are sufficient”. — AFP
The Supreme Court ordered the 74-year-old billionaire to serve eight years on old graft charges, though it is not clear how much time he will serve behind bars, as his Pheu Thai party forms the government and rumours swirl of a deal for leniency.
Thaksin, loved and loathed in almost equal measure in Thailand, landed in a private jet at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport on Tuesday morning, and was greeted by hundreds of noisy “Red Shirt” supporters waving banners and singing songs.
He emerged briefly to bow and offer a floral garland at a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a mark of respect before waving to supporters.
More Red Shirts lined the streets as the former Manchester City owner was taken to the Supreme Court.
There he was ordered to serve eight years for three convictions passed in his absence — one linked to his former Shin Corp company, another linked to a bank loan, and a lottery case.
Just hours after he landed, parliament approved business tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister at the head of a coalition led by the Pheu Thai party — the latest incarnation of Thaksin’s political movement.
“I will try my best and work tirelessly to improve the quality of life for Thai people,” Srettha told reporters after he was confirmed as the kingdom’s 30th prime minister. Pheu Thai’s controversial alliance includes parties from its old enemies in the military — which ousted both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck as prime minister.
This has led to widespread speculation of a backroom arrangement with Thailand’s powerful pro-military royalist establishment to let Thaksin off lightly — though Pheu Thai has denied such a deal.
Thaksin will spend his first days in prison in isolation because of health problems, but his family will be able to visit him after five days, the Department of Corrections said.
Asked about the possibility of a royal pardon, the deputy director of the Department of Corrections Sithi Suthiwong told reporters Thaksin could apply, and the process took “about one to two months, if the documents are sufficient”. — AFP