Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra seeks royal pardon, lawyer says

The former premier was jailed earlier this month after the country's Supreme Court ruled that he did not serve his initial prison sentence after spending six months in a VIP wing of a hospital following his return from 15 years of self-exile in August 2023.

Thaksin, 76, was initially sentenced to eight years in jail for conflicts of interest and abuse of power while he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006. His sentence was later commuted to one year by the king.

Thaksin's request for royal pardon, a process applicable to all prisoners who have completed their legal cases, could lead to the reduction of his current prison time.

"The petition was submitted," Winyat Chartmontree told reporters, adding, "This is a right of every inmate."

The former premier has loomed over Thai politics for around three decades, winning nearly every election since 2001.

His abrasive style and soaring popularity put him at odds with the country's old money elites and conservative generals, with six Shinawatra-linked administrations removed through court rulings and coups.

His incarceration came after a court sacked his daughter, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in August for breaching ethics during a leaked phone call in which she appeared to kowtow to Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen amid a border conflictbetween the two neighbours.

The fall of Paetongtarn's government paved the way for former construction tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul to become premier.