Thai court voids order for ex-PM to pay US$1bil for rice losses

In this Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017 file photo, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at the Supreme Court to make her final statements in a trial on a charge of criminal negligence in Bangkok, Thailand. On Friday, April 2, 2021, the Central Adminstrative Court annulled a 2016 order by the country’s Finance Ministry for Shinawatra to pay 35.7 billion baht ($1.1 billion) in compensation for losses incurred by a money-losing rice farming subsidy program that her 2011-2014 administration launched. - AP

BANGKOK, April 3 (AP): A court in Thailand on Friday (Apr 2) annulled a 2016 order by the country’s Finance Ministry for former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay 35.7 billion baht (US$1.1 billion) in compensation for losses incurred by a money-losing rice farming subsidy programme that her 2011-2014 administration launched.

The country's Central Adminstrative Court said the 2016 payment order lacked a legal basis since Yingluck was not responsible for the alleged corruption because it was carried out operationally by other officials. The court said the Finance Ministry failed to prove Yingluck was directly responsible for the financial losses.