Thai court ordered former leader Thaksin Shinawatra to serve one year in prison to complete a sentence for a past conviction, the latest setback for the influential politician whose daughter was ousted as prime minister last month.
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions ruled that Thaksin’s six-month stay in a police hospital in 2023, when he began serving a reduced sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, does not count toward his term. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
The court said Thaksin’s transfer from jail to a police hospital was unlawful and his time at the hospital wasn’t considered as time served.
Thaksin was present in the court wearing a yellow tie and accompanied by his two daughters.
The jailing of Thaksin, patriarch of the Shinawatra clan, raises questions about the future of one of Thailand’s most influential political families, which has dominated politics for more than two decades. Six prime ministers from parties tied to the family have been removed from office through court rulings or coups.
The ruling against Thaksin came days after the Thai parliament picked Anutin Charnvirakul, a political rival, as the country’s new prime minister following the ouster of Paetongtarn Shinawatra for ethical misconduct.
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A rupture in Paetongtarn’s coalition and the subsequent defeat of its prime minister candidate Chaikasem Nitisiri underscored the collapse of a deal between Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party and the conservative establishment. That agreement had allowed Thaksin, who led Thailand from 2001 until he was ousted in a 2006 coup, to return from 15 years of self-imposed exile.
Last month, Thaksin was acquitted in a separate royal defamation case, leading to a travel ban being lifted and allowing him to visit Dubai and Singapore.
He spent only a few hours in jail in 2023 before being moved to a hospital to serve an eight-year sentence for corruption and abuse of power, later reduced to one year by royal pardon. He was released on parole in 2024.
Earlier this year, the Medical Council of Thailand suspended two doctors and reprimanded another after finding they helped justify Thaksin’s transfer out of prison.
