Thailand's former PM Thaksin Shinawatra sentenced to one-year imprisonment

Thailand's former PM Thaksin Shinawatra with his daughter and former PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Bangkok. (AP photo)

The former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra was on Tuesday sentenced to one-year imprisonment by the Supreme Court for previous convictions.

This is yet another blow for Shinawatra's powerful family that has dominated politics for two decades.

On his return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023, Thaksin spent only a few hours in prison before being transferred to hospital complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread skepticism and public outrage.

His eight-year sentence for three cases involving graft and abuse of power was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months, the entirety of which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital.

The circumstances raised questions about whether he received special treatment and many were suspicious whether he was genuinely ill.

Thailand's Supreme Court said he should serve prison time that he skipped while in hospital detention for previous convictions, AP reported.

Thaksin is experiencing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégé, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was sacked as Prime Minister by a court 11 days ago — the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.

(With inputs from AP)