Karma finally reaches the 14th floor

THINK PRAGMATIC

- Veera Prateepchaikul

Former justice minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong, leader of the Prachachart party, has always been a loyalist and strong supporter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

He was “The One” who firmly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the doctors at the Police General Hospital and the Corrections Department, and key figures at the Corrections Department and Bangkok Remand Prison in facilitating Thaksin’s VIP stay at the 14th floor of the PGH for six months in lieu of his one-year prison term.

Pol Col Tawee’s unflinching loyalty toward Thaksin has made some critics wonder whether there is space left in his heart and mind for conscience to distinguish black from white.

But during the last few days before the departure of the Pheu Thai-led government, Pol Col Tawee did something untypical of a Thaksin loyalist. In a 12-page confidential letter dated Sept 23, stamped “top secret’, addressed to caretaker Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, he rejected Thaksin’s second petition for a royal pardon which was widely criticised as being inappropriate and not possible.

Surprisingly, in the letter, Pol Col Tawee inadvertently revealed some of the content of Thaksin’s latest petition to HM the King for a royal pardon which reads as follows: “I am very old now and suffering from health problems from old age. But I have to spend time in prison, making me suffer a lot, both physically and mentally. I don’t know I will have a chance to live a normal life outside of prison again. Now, I feel guilty of the wrongs that I did and will remember them for the rest of my life”.