BANGKOK: Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been sent back to prison after a Supreme Court ruling, but not before issuing a defiant and grateful statement vowing to dedicate the rest of his life to serving Thailand and its monarchy.
In a dramatic development, the court overturned his prolonged stay at a police hospital, ordering him to serve the remainder of his one-year sentence at Bangkok Remand Prison.
The move brings to a close a period of uncertainty for the 76-year-old politician, who had returned to Thailand last year after 15 years in self-imposed exile.
Before his return to a correctional facility, a post was published on Thaksin's Facebook account, in which he expressed profound gratitude for a royal pardon that had previously reduced his original eight-year sentence.
He stated that the pardon, granted by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, was an "act of boundless kindness for both me and my family."
The post, shared by his team, read:
"Dear respected citizens,
With deep gratitude for the immense royal grace of His Majesty the King, who has granted me a royal pardon reducing my prison sentence to one year, this is an act of boundless kindness for both me and my family.
I humbly accept and am ready to undergo the process according to today's court order.
Throughout my time as Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006, I tried to push forward every policy to improve the quality of life for the people and change Thailand's political landscape so that political parties would compete based on their policies, creating a tangible democracy through the government's achievable results. This has been my greatest pride as a politician elected by the people.
Even though all the cases against me arose after the coup against my government in 2006, today I wish to look forward and bring a conclusion to everything that has happened—both the legal battles and any conflicts that have arisen from or are related to me. - The Nation/ANN
