Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra jailed after apex court rejects hospital stay

Last Updated on September 9, 2025 10:33 pm

Aidan Jones and Agencies

Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon who once dominated Thai politics, spent his first night behind bars on Tuesday after the Supreme Court sentenced him to a year in prison.

The verdict was a stunning blow for the former prime minister, whose political dynasty has, for now, been pushed aside.

Thailand’s top court found on Tuesday that Thaksin, 76, knowingly exaggerated illness in 2023 to secure a lengthy stay in a VIP ward of a police hospital rather than in a prison cell.

Judges ruled that his time there could not be counted as time served, saying the doctors who certified him as unwell were not solely responsible for the deception.

Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023 after 15 years of self-exile to avoid prison for corruption and abuse of power convictions. He has always maintained that the charges were politically motivated.