PM Anutin says Thaksin’s clemency petition unaffected by current government

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday commented on former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s petition for royal clemency. He explained that the Ministry of Justice had forwarded its opinion on Thaksin’s petition to the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat (OCS) in accordance with the law.

“All processes are conducted according to legal rights,” said Anutin. “We respect who has the authority to act. This is not about any individual. As for whether I need to sign off, the documents have not yet arrived.”

Regarding reports that Thaksin’s petition had already been rejected by the ministry, Anutin clarified that the decision was made during the tenure of Pol Col Tawee Sodsong, the former Justice Minister. “The previous minister exercised his legal authority to reject clemency. This is unrelated to my government, and we must respect his decision. How could we overturn it?”

When asked if the government would uphold that decision, Anutin replied, “It was Pol Col Tawee’s decision, not ours. Whether Thaksin can petition for royal clemency again is a matter for legal review.”

Thaksin recently submitted his second petition for royal clemency after the Supreme Court ordered him back to prison on 9 September 2025 to serve a one-year sentence. In his first petition, he was granted clemency, reducing his eight-year sentence across three corruption cases to one year.