Thai court rules that ex-PM must serve one year in jail

Thailand’s top court has ruled that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail, in yet another blow to the influential political dynasty.

It ruled that he had unlawfully served part of a previous prison sentence in a hospital, and therefore must serve it in jail.

The high-profile case is linked to a previous corruption conviction.

Thaksin and his family have dominated Thai politics since he was first elected PM in 2001. His daughter Paetongtarn previously served as leader but was removed from office last month after the constitutional court ruled she had violated ethical standards, in a case linked to a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen.

Paetongtarn, who accompanied her 76-year-old father to court on Tuesday, told reporters after the ruling that she was “worried” for her father but that he and their family were in “good spirits”.

She also vowed to take the family’s Pheu Thai party forward in their work as an opposition party.

Thaksin’s latest case stems from an earlier conviction linked to his premiership.

The former PM was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and spent years living in self-imposed exile, mostly in Dubai.

When he returned to Thailand in 2023, he was promptly tried and found guilty of corruption and abuse of power during his time in office. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Following Thaksin’s plea for a royal pardon, the Thai king commuted his sentence to one year.

But he ended up spending only less than a day in a jail cell as he was swiftly moved to a luxury wing of the Police General Hospital after complaining of heart problems.

He stayed there for six months, then received parole and moved to his home in Bangkok.

The latest case centred on whether Thaksin’s transfer to hospital was lawful and whether he was genuinely ill.

The “14th floor case”, as it is known in Thailand because of the hospital floor he stayed at, has gripped many Thais who were watching to see if the PM would end up serving time in prison.