Thailand's former PM to serve 1-year prison term for previous convictions

Thailand’s Supreme Court said Tuesday 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.

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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.