3-9-2023 (BANGKOK) Former Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has clarified that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, currently serving a jail term, possesses the same rights as other inmates to receive further reductions to his sentence. The statement comes in response to reports suggesting that Thaksin had no right to apply for additional leniency following the royal pardon that commuted his combined eight-year sentence to one year.
Wissanu emphasized that his previous remarks had been misquoted, and he intended to convey that the royal pardon, disclosed last Friday, was a definitive decision. He made it clear that he did not mention anything about Thaksin being deprived of other rights for sentence reductions or a new pardon.
The former deputy prime minister affirmed that Thaksin, like any other prisoner with a remaining sentence of one year or less, possesses the same entitlements. Wissanu stated, “[Thaksin’s remaining jail term] could still be further reduced. But whether it will be reduced or not, I don’t know. Some expect it to be cut further on the occasion of Father’s Day (Dec 5).”
The royal pardon was granted the day after Wissanu, acting as the caretaker justice minister, formally received a petition filed by Thaksin. Following his return to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed exile, Thaksin was initially placed in a quarantine area at Bangkok Remand Prison. However, within 13 hours, he was transferred to the premium ward of the Police General Hospital due to complaints of chest pain, hypertension, and low blood oxygen saturation. Thaksin has remained under medical care at the hospital since then.
