By Thai Newsroom Reporters
DE FACTO PHEU THAI boss-turned-inmate Thaksin Shinawatra has apparently found a way to literally get out of prison, albeit only for a matter of hours at a time and not as long as a stretch of half a year as had been earlier the case.
The mega billionaire/power player who is currently serving his one-year term at Klong Prem central prison after the Supreme Court judges in charge of criminal lawsuits against persons in political positions had sent him back to jail earlier this month will be literally given a special role of supervising a task of his fellow inmates clearing sewer conduits under Bangkok streets somewhere, according to Thaksin’s daughter/court-deposed prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Accompanied by her spouse Pitaka Suksawat, Thaksin’s daughter visited him for an hour at the prison today (Sep.25).
However, she stopped short of saying how soon or how often her father will be given the chance of literally getting out of prison for hours at a time to do the job of a streetside supervisor for the clearing of sewer pipes by his fellow inmates under close watch of prison wardens.
Periods of time for inmates behind bars may be leniently shortened to some extent after they have done good deeds for society such as the chore of clearing sewer conduits in the streets or around public venues.
Though the power player-turned-inmate could probably be released on parole in the next four to six months, given leniency in law enforcement and his old age, the possibility of his being given an additional jail sentence by court under a separate, yet-relevant lawsuit could not be ruled out either.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission is currently taking legal action against certain officials of the Department of Corrections, Bangkok Remand prison and Police Hospital for allegedly involvement in a hush-hush conspiracy to do undue, illicit favour for the de facto Pheu Thai boss who had ostensibly flouted the rules of law and taken legal loopholes to keep himself from being literally put behind bars for a single day upon his return from self-exile abroad over the last couple of years.
Given his being an alleged accomplice with those government officials including doctors at the prison and hospital in committing illegal acts in his favour, the de facto Pheu Thai boss could possibly be found guilty among those culprits and subject to another jail sentence for which an amount of time is yet to be determined by court.
The Supreme Court judges had earlier sentenced Thaksin in his absentia to an eight-year jail term which had been curtailed under a royal decree to only one year for convicted counts of misconduct which he had perpetrated during his previous premiership over the last couple of decades.
Finally, the Supreme Court judges pinpointed the negligence of duty on the part of those government officials to observe and enforce the jail sentence earlier handed out to the then-convict at large, thus sending him back to jail earlier this month after he had contentiously enjoyed the privileges of staying at Police Hospital for a six-month period during which he had clandestinely become Mr. Fix-It pulling the strings behind a previous Pheu Thai-led coalition government.
Armed with a cellphone constantly available in his premium ward at the hospital, the de facto Pheu Thai boss had allegedly allocated cabinet portfolios among coalition partners, distributed ministerial seats to Pheu Thai figures and given out instructions through his right-hand man Phumtham Wechayachai and others until he was released on parole early last year.
In another development, it remains to be seen in a one-month time from now whether the Office of the Attorney-General will proceed with a lese majeste lawsuit filed against the power player-turned-inmate in the Appellate Court after it had been lifted by the Criminal Court last month.
Under the draconian lese majeste law, also known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, he had been accused of unduly mentioning His late Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej for alleged involvement in the 2006 coup which had ousted him from power during an interview he had given to a news agency in Seoul, South Korea, in 2015, barely a year after his fugitive sister/former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra had been deposed in the other coup staged by former army chief-turned-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who had ironically managed to have his originally-sentenced, eight-year jail term curtailed to one year, albeit without being literally enforced.
CAPTIONS:
Top and Front Page: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra gives the thumbs up while on his way to Klong Prem prison. File photo – Amarin TV
Insert: Former prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her spouse Pitaka Suksawat visiting her dad, Thaksin Shinawatra, at Klong Prem Prison. Photo: Naewna
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