Thailand’s Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who returned from self-exile last year has been slated for royal pardon, while his parole will end on Sunday.
Thaksin Shinawatra’s parole had been due to end at the end of the month but will end earlier finish comes as part of a general royal pardon for 7,500 prisoners with good conduct.
Thaksin’s Royal Pardon comes a day after his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, became the youngest person ever elected prime minister of Thailand. Paetongtarn is also the third member of the Shinawatra family to hold the office of Prime Minister.
Thaksin, 75, returned to Thailand after 15 years of self-exile in August of 2023. He fled the country in 2008 after a military coupe, claiming he could not get a fair trial and the charges against him were politically motivated.
He was charged with conflict of interest and abuse of authority while in power from 2001-06.
When Thaksin returned to Thailand in 2023 he was sentenced to eight years in prison, however, his sentence was reduced to one year under an earlier royal pardon. He qualified for parole in February of this year.
One of the conditions of his parole was that he not engage in political activity directly. However some believe he has been very active behind the scenes.
Thaksin’s legal troubles are not completely over, however. He still faces a charge of lese-majeste in connection with an interview he gave to a South Korean newspaper in 2015.
In the interview, He allegedly claimed privy councillors supported the 2014 coup that ousted the government of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who’s been living with her family in exile in the United Kingdom.
Royal Pardon’s in Thailand
A Royal Pardon is generally characterised as an act of forgiveness for a specific offence that extends to the elimination of the punishment associated with it. It is typically an act of grace on the part of the head of state.
A royal pardon in Thailand is the act of pardoning a prisoner who has been sentenced by law to a punishment for a crime he committed. It could take the shape of the prisoner’s unconditional release, commutation, or reduction of the penalty for his sentence.
Nonetheless, because it is considered an act of grace, the royal pardon is totally at the discretion of His Majesty the King. In Thailand, royal pardons are most commonly granted for medical reasons.
