By Panarat Thepgumpanat
BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s Supreme Court will decide on Tuesday if former premier Thaksin Shinawatra should serve prison time that he skipped while in hospital detention, a high-profile ruling that could finally see Thailand’s most influential tycoon jailed.
On return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023, he spent only a few hours in prison before being transferred to hospital complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread scepticism and public outrage.
His eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months, the entirety of which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital.
Thaksin’s entourage is facing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégée Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court 11 days ago – the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.
Days of chaos ensued before Paetongtarn’s government fell on Friday, outmanoeuvred by challenger Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected premier by parliament in a humiliating defeat for Thaksin’s once unstoppable Pheu Thai party.
The court will decide if the hospital stay should count as time served – and could order the polarising billionaire to complete the sentence in prison.
It sequestered his medical records and summoned 20 witnesses, including a former head of the corrections department and physicians who treated him.
Thailand’s medical council has suspended two doctors for issuing documents that contained false medical information. A prison doctor was cautioned for failing to meet medical standards in referring Thaksin for hospital treatment.
The 76-year-old appeared in good health as he returned from exile to cheering crowds in 2023 and in the months following his release, when he became active again in politics, though officially retired.
His lawyer in June insisted he had been sick during his hospital stay, adding “he has completely served his sentence”.
Amid turmoil in his party, Thaksin quietly flew on Thursday to Dubai, where he had spent most of his exile, prompting speculation that he had fled justice again. But he returned on Monday, having promised to attend the verdict.
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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