The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning ordered Thaksin Shinawatra to actually serve the year's imprisonment to which he was sentenced two years ago, rejecting his prolonged stay in hospital as part of his sentence.
The court ordered Thaksin to serve his time at Bangkok Remand Prison, but at 5.30pm he was moved to the maximum-security Klong Prem Central Prison. The Department of Corrections said this was in line with its regulations as Thaksin is considered a high-security inmate.
Thaksin was present in court for the judgement, along with members of his family, opponents and reporters. He exited the court building in a white shirt and dark suit trousers, but without his jacket, and departed in a Department of Corrections van.
The court said it considered as illegitimate the transfer of Thaksin from Bangkok Remand Prison shortly after his arrival there on Aug 22, 2023 to the Police General Hospital after he complained of chest pain.
Thaksin had returned to Thailand on that same day after self-exile for 15 years. He stayed at Police General Hospital instead of in prison until his parole in early 2024.
According to the court, when Thaksin was sent to the Bangkok Remand Prison on Aug 22, 2023, a corrections doctor recommended he be examined outside the Medical Correctional Institution for spondylolisthesis (slipping spine bone), heart disease and hepatitis B as the corrections facility was not equipped to handle these ailments.
However, these health conditions were not emergency illnesses, the court said.
At 10pm on Aug 22, 2023, Thaksin told a nurse at the prison that he felt fatigued, had a slight weakness in his right leg, insomnia, chest pain and hypertension.
The nurse on duty requested his treatment outside the prison and a warder on duty approved the request.
Thaksin was then sent from the Bangkok Remand Prison to Police General Hospital, bypassing the Medical Correctional Institution that is only 200 metres away and had doctors on duty that night.
The court cited the Corrections Act and relevant ministerial regulations which required any ill inmates who deserved to be treated outside prison to be examined first, and without delay, by a doctor at the Medical Correctional Institution.
The transfer of Thaksin based on his chest pain complaint on the night of Aug 22, 2023, violated the law and regulations, the court said.
The Supreme Court dismissed the chest pain complaint from Thaksin, saying that when he was sent to Police General Hospital he was placed in a special patient room on the 14th floor of the Maha Bhumibol Rachanusorn 88th Birthday Anniversary Building.
He was not admitted to an emergency or accident unit. That violated the Police General Hospital's own regulations requiring that prison inmates with emergency illnesses be treated in its emergency and accident units.
On Aug 23, 2023, Thaksin was not treated by an electrocardiogram specialist, or a cardiologist. A cardiologist examined him on Aug 24, more than 24 hours later.
Police General Hospital treated Thaksin with bronchodilators and blood pressure medication on Aug 23.
The Medical Correctional Institution had that medication and was capable of doing electrocardiograms. Therefore, the institution was capable of treating Thaksin on the night of Aug 22, 2023, the court said.
The Supreme Court also said that Thaksin did not really suffer chest pain, but claimed to suffer it to ensure his transfer to Police General Hospital.
The court said that Thaksin’s condition from Aug 24, 2023, onwards could have been treated by the Medical Correctional Institution and he could have been returned to the institution on Aug 24, 2023.
According to the court ruling, from Aug 24, 2023, to Feb 18, 2024, when Thaksin was discharged from Police General Hospital, there were claims about his need for emergency surgery, stroke, cervical spondylosis, trigger finger and ruptured shoulder tendon due to an accident at Police General Hospital - all used to justify his extended stay at the hospital.
The Supreme Court said that such claimed conditions were not the causes cited for his transfer to Police General Hospital. In addition, Thaksin rejected neck surgery and decided to receive only relevant medication until his discharge from the hospital.
“This behaviour indicated that the defendant was aware that he had no emergency illnesses. The defendant only had underlying illnesses which could be treated as an outpatient without staying at Police General Hospital,” the court said.
The defendant “chose surgery for trigger finger and right shoulder tendon, which were not urgent cases but caused the defendant’s stay at Police General Hospital to be extended. The defendant thus benefited from the stay at Police General Hospital without having to return to detention at the Bangkok Remand Prison until he was released,” the court said.
Therefore, the court ordered his one-year imprisonment according to the commuted term under royal clemency. The royal pardon followed the Supreme Court's eight-year jail sentence for conflict of interest and abuse of authority while Thaksin was prime minister in the early 2000s.
The court said the stay at Police General Hospital could not be cited as Thaksin serving his prison term.
After the ruling, Thaksin said in a social media post on Tuesday that he accepted the ruling and was grateful for His Majesty the King’s great generosity in commuting his sentence to one year. He also wrote that when he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006 he tried to push policies to improve people’s lives.
His daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters in front of the Supreme Court that she was proud of her father’s contributions to the national interest. She also pointed out that he is the first Thai prime minister to ever be sent to prison.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra speaks to reporters in front of the Supreme Court after the ruling on Tuesday. (Photo: Nutthawat Wichieanbut)
