BANGKOK: Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (pic), serving a one-year sentence in a Bangkok prison for corruption, may be eligible to be released on parole in May, raising the possibility that the influential politician may play a role in the country’s politics again.
Thaksin, 76, may be considered for early release after having served two-thirds of his sentence, which began on Sept. 9 last year, according to a Department of Corrections statement on Tuesday (Jan 20). A committee consisting of justice, corrections and law enforcement officials must approve his parole, it said.
"Such consideration for parole for convicted prisoners is conducted strictly within the framework of the law, ministerial regulations, rules, guidelines, and human rights principles,” said the Department of Corrections. "There is no discrimination or action taken outside the scope of the law.”
Including Thaksin himself, the extended Shinawatra clan has provided four Thai premiers this century. It’s seeking a return to power in the upcoming Feb. 8 general election via Thaksin’s nephew, Yodchanan Wongsawat, who is leading the campaign for the family-backed Pheu Thai Party.
The ruling Bhumjaithai party of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul came to power after the ouster of Thaksin’s daughter by the Constitutional Court in August.
Thaksin was jailed to serve past sentences when the Supreme Court ruled that his six-month stay in a police hospital after his return to Thailand from 15 years of self-imposed exile didn’t count as time served. That verdict capped a bout of political turmoil that saw two Thaksin-linked administrations ousted in little more than a year following the most recent election in 2023.
The reversal in the Shinawatras’ fortunes was widely viewed as signalling a breakdown of a deal between Thaksin and the royalist-military establishment that let him return from exile. He fled Thailand in 2008 after his government was toppled in a coup in 2006.
In all, some six prime ministers tied to or backed by the Shinawatra family, including Thaksin’s sister and his daughter, have been removed from office through court rulings or coups.
Thaksin was originally sentenced to eight years in jail for corruption and abuse of power during his time in power, but that was reduced to one year by a royal pardon from King Maha Vajiralongkorn. He spent only a few hours in jail in 2023 before being moved to the hospital, citing illnesses, and was released on parole in 2024.
Thaksin also previously submitted a petition seeking another royal pardon weeks after his imprisonment. - Bloomberg
