Sentenced To A Year's Prison, Thaksin Asks The King Of Thailand For Help

Former Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra with his father Thaksin Shinawatra / PHOTO via Instagram @ingshin21

JAKARTA - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra filed a petition for a royal amnesty for the one-year prison sentence imposed on him.

The former prime minister was jailed earlier this month after the Supreme Court ruled he was not serving his first prison sentence after spending six months in a hospital VIP room after returning from 15 years in exile in August 2023.

Thaksin, 76, was initially sentenced to eight years in prison for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while serving as prime minister from 2001 to 2006. His sentence was later reduced to one year by the king.

Thaksin's application for royal amnesty, a process that applies to all inmates who have completed their legal cases, could reduce his current prison term.

"Petisi telah diajukan," ujar Winyat Chartmontree kepada wartawan dilansir Reuters, Senin, 29 September.

"This is the right of every inmate," he continued.

The former prime minister has overshadowed Thailand's politics for about three decades, winning almost every general election since 2001.

His rough style and skyrocketing popularity left him at odds with the country's longtime elites and conservative generals, with six governments linked to Shinawatra removed through court decisions and coups.

His detention came after a court sacked his daughter, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in August for violating ethics in a leaked phone call in which he appeared to be prostrate to Cambodian former leader Hun Sen amid a border conflict between the two neighboring countries.

The fall of the Paetongtarn government paved the way for former construction tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul to become prime minister.