Ex premier Thaksin Shinawatra, having received a partial pardon from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn reducing his jail sentence for corruption from eight to one year, is still in Bangkok’s Police General Hospital. He is under observation for a variety of ailments including heart murmurs, high blood pressure, chest tightness and a herniated spine condition known as spondylosis. He returned to Thailand after 15 years in self-imposed exile, mostly based in Dubai.
While it is unlikely that Thaksin would receive a second individual pardon, he could still benefit from a collective pardon according to former deputy prime minister and legal expert Wissanu Kreangam. The King, to celebrate his birthday in 2021, granted a pardon to 200,000 prisoners of whom 35,000 were granted parole. The following year, 138,175 prisoners were amnesty and half were granted immediate release on the occasion of the remembrance birthday of the late King Bhumibol Aduluadej who had died in 2016.
Wissanu said he could not predict Thaksin’s future, but pointed out that his advanced age and illnesses could include him in a collective pardon including full remission or conditional release, such as parole, or even serving the rest of his one year sentence at home. There are many precedents for Royal pardons being granted to criminals with short sentences or with little time left to serve. Thaksin is thought to be the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai party which has formed a coalition with its erstwhile political enemies in a pact with two military-backed factions in Parliament.
Other comfort options for Thaksin might be an indefinite stay in hospital on the recommendation of doctors, or even an urgent surgical procedure which might be performed in the Police General Hospital or even a luxurious private sector hospital. The Department of Corrections has used its discretion many times in the past to move prisoners around in the light of perceived concerns about an individual’s health. To date, Thaksin has not served one minute in a traditional prison cell. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards his one year release deadline in August 2024.
N.B. Mr Wissanu has since stated that he was misquoted and that the Royal pardon was the final one.
