Thaksin ‘ready to do jail time’
Calls it a price to pay to return to his family
Self-exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday he is ready to serve his prison term provided he is allowed to spend the rest of his life with his family, regardless of the results of the upcoming general election.
Speaking in an interview with Kyodo News during a trip to Tokyo, Thaksin said he is biding his time before possibly returning this year, following years of living in self-exile abroad. He was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and left Thailand in 2008 to avoid facing time in prison.
“Now I’ve served 16 years already in the big jail because they prevent me from staying with my family,” Thaksin said, referring to his life away from his home country. “I’ve suffered enough. If I were to suffer again in the smaller jail, it is OK,” he added.
“It is not really the price I need to pay, but I pay because I want to stay with my grandchildren. I should spend the rest of my life with my children and my grandchildren,” the 73-year-old said.
The populist billionaire, who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006, expressed confidence that the Pheu Thai Party will win the May 14 election by achieving a majority in the Lower House.
His second and youngest daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, is expected to be one of three prime ministerial candidates from Pheu Thai.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha dissolved the Lower House on March 20 and has also announced his bid to remain premier after the election.
Since the 2006 coup, Thaksin has been sentenced in absentia in four out of eight cases brought against him up until 2021. The total length of the four prison terms is 12 years.
He was given two years in the twoand three-digit lottery case in which he was found guilty of violating Section 157 of the Criminal Code, while another three years were handed down in a case involving loans totalling 4 billion baht granted to Myanmar by the ExportImport Bank of Thailand (Exim Bank).
Five more years in prison were handed down to the ex-premier in his absence in a case in which he was found guilty of using some nominees to hold shares in Shin Corp and having conflicts of interest in the country’s telecommunication sector.
The other two years in prison were handed down to him by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in the Ratchadaphisek land case, in which his thenwife, Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra, had secured a deal to purchase about 33 rai of land in the Ratchadaphisek area of Bangkok from the Financial Institution Development Fund at only 772 million baht.
Thaksin was acquitted in 2019 in a case where he was accused of manipulating the rehabilitation plan of the Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) through the Ministry of Finance for his own benefit.
The former prime minister also was given the benefit of the doubt in a case where he was accused by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) of manipulating Krungthai Bank’s (KTB) 9-billion-baht loans granted to Krisda Mahanakorn Group.
There are two more cases against Thaksin which are currently being investigated by the NACC. One concerns his alleged role in the government-to-government rice scandal, which occurred during the Yingluck Shinawatra administration.
The other deals with his alleged involvement in approving Thai Airways International purchases of four A340-500 aircraft and 75 other aircraft, which were found to be unsound and the main cause of the national flag carrier’s debt crisis.
I’ve suffered enough. If I were to suffer again in the smaller jail, it is OK. THAKSIN SHINAWATRA FORMER PRIME MINISTER