Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will not attempt to flee the country again in order to escape a lese-majeste case that has been brought against him, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Tuesday.
“I met with Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the leader of the Pheu Thai Party, this morning. I asked about her father. She said he is fine,” Mr Srettha said.
“I am confident he will not leave the country. I think he is ready to fight [the lese majeste case]. He was in exile abroad for 17 years. That’s long enough.
“I cannot speak on his behalf. But I don’t think he is going anywhere.”
Thaksin fled Thailand in 2008, shortly before the Supreme Court convicted him for helping his then-wife Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra buy land in the Ratchadaphisek area at a discount while he was prime minister.
He returned to Thailand in August last year and was sentenced to eight years in prison — later reduced to one year on a royal pardon. He never spent a single night behind bars and was granted parole after spending six months at the Police General Hospital.
On May 29, the attorney general indicted Thaksin on royal defamation and computer crime charges arising from an interview given to a newspaper in Seoul on Feb 21, 2015.
Thaksin was alleged to have defamed the monarchy while speaking with a Korean newspaper, when he claimed privy councillors supported the 2014 coup that ousted the government of his younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
Police claimed the comments violated Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lese-majeste law, as well as the Computer Crime Act.
