Thai ex-PM Thaksin lands in Bangkok ahead of crucial court date

Thai ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is due to attend court on Tuesday for the Supreme Court’s ruling on whether he had properly served a prison sentence – Copyright AFP/File MANAN VATSYAYANA

Influential Thai ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra landed back home on Monday ahead of a scheduled watershed ruling by the kingdom’s top court which may see him jailed.

Thaksin jetted away last week as his dynasty’s party was ousted from office, fuelling speculation he had absconded from a Supreme Court inquiry probing whether he properly served a prison sentence.

The results of the investigation are due Tuesday, and while Thaksin’s guilt is not its subject analysts say the ruling may nonetheless see him jailed.

But televised images on Thai media showed Thaksin, 76, landing back at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport by private jet on Monday afternoon, and he has pledged to attend the court date in person.

Shinawatra’s clan has for two decades been the key foe of Thailand’s pro-military, pro-royalty elite who view their populist brand as a threat to traditional social order.

But the dynasty’s momentum is flagging after a litany of legal and political setbacks, the Supreme Court ruling a potential further blow after their Pheu Thai Party were ousted from office last week.

The judicial probe centres on Thaksin’s sentence for corruption and abuse of power after he returned to Thailand in August 2023 following years lived in exile.

Initially sentenced to eight years behind bars, he never spent a night in a cell — whisked almost immediately from a detention centre to a private room in Bangkok’s Police General Hospital.

His transfer, and the timing of his return, which coincided with his Pheu Thai party forming a new government, fuelled public suspicion of a backroom deal and allegations of special treatment.

A royal pardon saw his sentence reduced to just one year, before he was set free in February 2024 as part of an early release scheme for elderly prisoners.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Position began investigating in April, and has probed prison and medical officials to determine if the sentence was properly served.

Thaksin’s daughter prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was felled by her own court case last month, sacked by judges who found she breached ministerial ethics during a border row with Cambodia.

Pheu Thai’s one-time ally, conservative tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul, formed his own coalition to replace the party which had monopolised Thailand’s top office since 2023 elections.

Anutin officially took office on Sunday, saying he had faced “legal bullying” in the past but pledging his administration would let the law “take its course”.