Just two weeks ago, his daughter, Paetontunn, was suspended as prime minister by the country’s constitutional court.
Former Thai leader Thaksin Sinawatra testified in court and calls for him to protect himself from the royal family’s honour and loss charges that could land him in a 15-year prison sentence just weeks after his daughter Paetong Tarun Sinawatra was suspended as prime minister.
Thaksin has been accused of violating strict Race Majeste laws that protect Thai royal families from abuse and criticism in a closed trial in the capital Bangkok that began earlier this month and continued on Wednesday.
The prosecution’s lawsuit revolves around what Taksin made to South Korean media a decade ago, and by giving at least three days of testimony, the defendant is not expected to have a verdict for weeks.
Recent events of both father and daughter are a serious blow to the powerful Sinawatra political dynasty. Over the past quarter of a century, the 75-year-old correspondence giant has been a decisive figure in Thai politics, establishing a movement that competes with traditional royal yal, pro-military elites.
His prosecution, coupled with Paetongtarn’s suspension two weeks ago, represents a dramatic decline in the family’s political fortune, analysts say.
Winyat Chatmontri, a lawyer for Thaksin, told AFP News Agency that the client testified on Wednesday morning that it “continues throughout the rest of the time.”
Approximately 50 Thaksin supporters gathered in court wearing red shirts, the colour of his political movement, decorated with portraits of his face.
“He’s a very talented guy,” Vaew Wilailak, a 79-year-old retired accountant, told AFP. “But from past experience, the bad guy is trying to drive him away.”
Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023 after 15 years in exile and removed him from the Prime Minister’s Office, where a military coup won two elections.
He urged suspicions that his family, Fau Tai party, had been appointed and that he was headed by a coalition government backed by a conservative former enemy, and that the backroom deal had been struck.
Thaksin was quickly sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and abuse of electricity charges. It was then reduced to one year by amnesty from King Maha Vajralongkorn in another obvious sign of reconciliation.
In a recent interview, Thaksin confirmed his loyalty to the monarchy and expressed his gratitude for the King’s pardon.
Speaking to AFP outside the court on the first day of his trial on July 1, Winyat said his client looked “cold” despite the seriousness of the case.
On the same day, Paetong Ghan was suspended by the Constitutional Court and on May 28th he put an ethical investigation into her conduct during a leaked diplomatic call debating the fatal border conflict between Thailand and Cambodian forces.
The scandal has been “a full-scale crisis,” Anadolu told Anadolu after the leaked call suggested that Paetonggaan had “compromised her position through koutoing” to former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Chichinan Ponshudirak and Prime Minister Hun Sen, a professor of international relations at Chulalong Khon University.
In his call, Paetongtarn called Hun Sen “uncle” and described the Thai military commander as “enemy.”
The Pheu Thai coalition left a razor-thin parliamentary majority abandoned by the main conservative supporters of Cole and piloted by the caretaker Prime Minister.
