Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was taken to Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison on Tuesday after the Supreme Court ruled he must serve a one-year prison term for earlier graft and abuse-of-power convictions.
The court reached its decision following a hearing to determine whether officials mishandled Thaksin’s return to Thailand in 2023 and whether his subsequent stay at a police hospital should have been considered time served. A judge said that the police hospital detention did not meet required procedures and therefore did not count as serving his sentence.
The court said evidence showed Thaksin’s condition on the night he returned was treatable by the prison’s hospital, but he was instead sent directly to the Police General Hospital without being assessed first by prison doctors, a violation of procedures. The police hospital later asked to extend his stay, saying he required urgent neck surgery, but medical records showed he underwent surgeries for a locked finger joint and tendonitis in his right shoulder. The court said those procedures were not what initially prompted the hospital admission, that he did not have neck surgery before his release, and that there was belief he intervened in treatment procedures and falsely claimed a health condition to avoid returning to prison.
Thaksin was initially detained briefly in a prison facility after his return from more than a decade of self-exile. He was then transferred in the middle of the night to a suite at the Police General Hospital reportedly for medical reasons, after spending less than a day in prison. His original eight-year sentence was commuted to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and Thaksin was released on parole after roughly six months in the hospital. Those circumstances prompted public suspicion about whether he had received preferential treatment.
After the Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday, Thaksin was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison to be processed and then moved to Klong Prem Central Prison, which houses inmates serving final convictions, the Department of Corrections said in a statement. He was filmed entering a prison van wearing a blue prisoner uniform.
A message posted on Thaksin’s Facebook page shortly after the ruling, shared by his team, said he accepted the court’s decision. "I’d like to look into the future, to give conclusions to everything, whether the legal proceedings or the conflicts that were caused by or related to me," the post said. "From today, although I’m without freedom, I still have freedom of thought for the benefit of the country and its people."
Thaksin arrived at the court on Tuesday with family members, including two of his children, Pintongta Shinawatra and Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Paetongtarn, a former prime minister who was removed from her position last month after a court found her guilty of an ethics violation tied to a phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, spoke to reporters after the ruling and thanked the king for commuting her father’s sentence. She said Thaksin would remain a spiritual leader in Thai politics.
Thaksin led Thailand from 2001 until a military coup ousted him in 2006 while he was abroad. His removal from power set off nearly two decades of deep political polarization, with factions aligned for and against him, including urban elites, ardent royalists and the military. After his ouster he faced numerous lawsuits and criminal charges that he has long maintained were politically motivated. He briefly returned to Thailand in 2008 to face charges but left again after skipping bail and then spent more than a decade living overseas.
In a separate recent development, a criminal court last month acquitted Thaksin of royal defamation — an offense known as lese-majeste — which had carried a possible 15-year prison term. The Supreme Court’s decision this week resolves questions about whether his hospital detention in 2023 should have been credited toward his sentence and places him back in a central prison serving the one-year term ordered after the king’s commutation.
Authorities said the legal process that led to the court’s finding focused on procedural safeguards designed to prevent the improper avoidance of incarceration. The ruling underscores scrutiny of how high-profile prisoners are handled and follows public concern over perceived unequal treatment during Thaksin’s return to Thailand.
The Department of Corrections did not immediately provide additional details about Thaksin’s medical status or his placement within Klong Prem. Court documents and statements released by the judiciary formed the basis of the findings that the police hospital stay was procedurally improper and therefore did not count as serving the court-ordered sentence.
Thaksin’s political movement and supporters have remained influential in Thai politics despite his years in exile. His return last year and the legal wrangling over his detention have continued to shape a contentious political environment in Thailand, with implications for his allies and for the broader debate over the rule of law and equality before the courts.
As he begins the one-year term, it is unclear how the conviction will affect his political influence or ongoing legal matters, but his family and supporters have said they will continue to pursue political objectives within the bounds of the law.