5-3-2025 (BANGKOK) The protracted legal battle surrounding Yingluck Shinawatra’s appeal against a staggering 35 billion baht compensation order is approaching its denouement, according to senior judicial officials. The Supreme Administrative Court is poised to deliver its verdict this year, bringing closure to a case that has wound through Thailand’s legal system since 2021.
Vice President of the Supreme Administrative Court, Prawit Boothiam, expressed optimism about the timeline, noting that deliberations have made “significant progress” during the four-year review period. The case centres on the former prime minister’s challenge to a Finance Ministry directive holding her financially accountable for losses stemming from allegedly corrupt government-to-government rice contracts.
The legal saga began after Thailand’s military regime, which deposed Shinawatra’s government in 2014, pursued charges against her for mismanagement of the controversial rice scheme. In 2017, whilst Shinawatra was already abroad having fled Thailand, the Supreme Court handed down a five-year prison sentence in absentia.
Following this criminal conviction, fiscal accountability measures were initiated by the Finance Ministry, which issued the compensation order at the heart of the current appeal. However, the Central Administrative Court dealt a blow to the ministry’s position in April 2021, invalidating the order on grounds that responsibility for the scheme’s oversight was distributed amongst the Cabinet and National Rice Policy Committee, rather than resting solely with Shinawatra.
The ruling also acknowledged that whilst the former premier was aware of the G-to-G contracts’ existence, evidence suggested she had not been briefed about subsequent corrupt dealings involving private companies. This finding prompted the Finance Ministry to elevate the matter to the Supreme Administrative Court, where it has remained under consideration for nearly four years.
