Thailand Supreme Court Orders Former PM Thaksin To One Year Prison

Thailand's Supreme Court has ordered former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to serve a one-year prison term after ruling that his extended hospitalisation following his return from self-imposed exile was unlawful and unjustified. Despite his initial eight-year sentence for corruption and abuse of power being commuted to one year by royal pardon, Thaksin avoided prison by staying in a hospital for six months, which the court found was facilitated by collusion with his doctors and not medically necessary. The court criticized the medical reports and suspended two doctors for providing false documentation, ordering Thaksin to begin serving his sentence at Bangkok Remand Prison. His daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who recently lost her prime ministership amid political turmoil, said the family remains in high spirits and vowed to continue their political opposition. Thaksin, a polarizing figure who dominated Thai politics for over two decades before being ousted in a 2006 military coup, accepted the verdict and expressed that while he may lose physical freedom, he retains freedom of thought to benefit the nation. This ruling marks another setback for the influential Shinawatra political dynasty amid growing tensions with Thailand's conservative establishment.