Thailand Supreme Court Jails Ex-PM Thaksin for Year Over Hospital Stay Feigning Illness

Thailand's Supreme Court has ordered former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to serve a one-year prison sentence after ruling that his six-month hospitalization in a VIP police hospital wing was a ploy to avoid jail time. Thaksin, who returned from 15 years of self-imposed exile in August 2023, was convicted on corruption and abuse of power charges and had initially faced an eight-year sentence, later commuted by the king. The court found no urgent medical need for his hospital stay, rejecting his claims of chest tightness and high blood pressure, and declared that the hospital time did not count as detention. The ruling marked a significant blow to Thaksin, whose political influence has sharply declined following the recent sacking of his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, as prime minister. Thaksin accepted the verdict and expressed a desire to move forward, while the decision reflects broader public frustration over perceived elite legal leniency and signals a shift in Thailand’s political landscape. This development highlights the judiciary's stance on equal treatment under the law, possibly ending the previous unofficial truce between Thaksin's political faction and the conservative establishment.