Thaksin Shinawatra Vows to Serve Monarchy and Nation as He Returns to Prison
The former premier expressed gratitude for a royal pardon, while a Supreme Court ruling ordered him to serve his remaining sentence
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been sent back to prison after a Supreme Court ruling, but not before issuing a defiant and grateful statement vowing to dedicate the rest of his life to serving Thailand and its monarchy.
In a dramatic development, the court overturned his prolonged stay at a police hospital, ordering him to serve the remainder of his one-year sentence at Bangkok Remand Prison.
The move brings to a close a period of uncertainty for the 76-year-old politician, who had returned to Thailand last year after 15 years in self-imposed exile.
Before his return to a correctional facility, a post was published on Thaksin's Facebook account, in which he expressed profound gratitude for a royal pardon that had previously reduced his original eight-year sentence.
He stated that the pardon, granted by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, was an "act of boundless kindness for both me and my family."
The post, shared by his team, read:
"Dear respected citizens,
With deep gratitude for the immense royal grace of His Majesty the King, who has granted me a royal pardon reducing my prison sentence to one year, this is an act of boundless kindness for both me and my family.
I humbly accept and am ready to undergo the process according to today's court order.
Throughout my time as Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006, I tried to push forward every policy to improve the quality of life for the people and change Thailand's political landscape so that political parties would compete based on their policies, creating a tangible democracy through the government's achievable results. This has been my greatest pride as a politician elected by the people.
Even though all the cases against me arose after the coup against my government in 2006, today I wish to look forward and bring a conclusion to everything that has happened—both the legal battles and any conflicts that have arisen from or are related to me.
I want to thank the people for their continuous support. Thank you to the politicians, members of the Pheu Thai Party, and all my friends who have stood by me, both in good times and bad. I have decided to choose this path to give everyone encouragement to move forward, working for the nation, religion, the monarchy, and the people with the shared ideology and spirit we have always had, until the day we can walk this path together again.
From this day on, even though I will be without freedom, I still have freedom of thought for the benefit of the country and its people. I will maintain my physical and mental strength to use the rest of my life to serve the monarchy, the Thai nation, and the Thai people, no matter what my status may be from now on.
Thank you."
