Thai Supreme Court Sends Ex-PM Thaksin Back to Prison Over Illegal Hospital Stay

Thai Supreme Court Orders Ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra Back to Prison Over Unlawful Hospital Stay

Thailand’s Supreme Court has ordered former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return to prison, ruling that his extended hospital stay was unlawful and could not count as time served. Thaksin, who came back from 15 years in exile last year, had his eight-year sentence reduced to one year by royal pardon. However, instead of serving in jail, he spent months in a hospital ward. The court declared this a deliberate attempt to avoid imprisonment, and Thaksin has now been taken back into custody to serve his one-year term.