Court clears Thailand’s ex-PM Thaksin in royal insult case

In Thailand, a court in Bangkok on Friday dismissed a lese majeste case involving controversial billionaire and former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The charge relates to an interview Thaksin gave to a South Korean newspaper ten years ago. He would have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted. Thailand’s lese majeste law forbids insulting its monarchy. But critics say lawmakers often use it to target activists and political opponents. The verdict comes as Thaksin’s daughter, suspended PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, faces a court case that may see her removed from office. “The court dismissed the charges against Thaksin, ruling that the evidence presented was insufficient,” his lawyer Winyat Chatmontree said. The criminal court in Bangkok later confirmed it had dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence.

Thaksin denied wrongdoing and has repeatedly pledged allegiance to the king, who is enshrined in the Thai constitution as being in a position of “revered worship”, with the palace viewing support for the monarchy as sacrosanct. Thaksin’s case was the highest-profile among more than 280 prosecutions in recent years under the controversial lese-majeste laws, which activists say have been abused by conservatives to silence dissent and sideline political rivals. Thailand’s royalists say such laws are necessary to protect the crown. Thaksin remains a major force in Thai politics despite being retired and having previously spent 15 years in self-imposed exile before his return to the country in 2023.

Thaksin also faces another key legal test in September, when the Supreme Court will decide whether his six-month stint in hospital detention prior to his release on parole in 2024 – over abuse of power and conflict of interest charges while in office – should count as time served in jail. If the case goes against him, Thaksin could potentially be made to serve the time again in prison.