Thaksin chapter closes, another opens

ABROAD AT HOME Thitinan Pongsudhirak

- Thitinan Pongsudhirak

In yet another dramatic twist in Thai politics, erstwhile anti-establishment political juggernaut and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra accepted a one-year jail sentence and began serving his time behind bars on Sept 9. After his return from a 15-year self-imposed exile in August 2023 and a concomitant royal pardon that reduced his eight-year imprisonment on corruption convictions to just one year, Thaksin cited his gravely ill health and spent the time comfortably at the Police General Hospital before being released on parole. The Supreme Court's ruling that his get-out-of-jail health card was invalid means Thaksin’s renewed imprisonment and its aftermath are likely to reshape and realign Thailand's political landscape ahead of the next election, due by mid-2027.

Thaksin has become the biggest fish in contemporary Thai politics to have landed in jail. Top political leaders who were deposed by military coups and power plays since the late 1940s have either gone into exile permanently or for an interval before returning to reenter politics or fade into twilight on home soil. None has gone to jail. That Thaksin has gone to jail, even for a limited time, intensifies the rules of engagement and challenges implicit assumptions in Thai politics. Other big shots — generals, politicians, bureaucrats, and others with questionable wealth — could also face incarceration on corruption convictions. No one, in other words, is above and beyond the slammer.