A criminal court in Thailand will deliver a verdict in a high-profile case of royal insult involving former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the first of several upcoming rulings tied to the powerful Shinawatra dynasty.
Thaksin, 76, is accused of lese-majeste — a charge that carries up to 15 years in prison — over comments made in a 2015 media interview during his long period of self-imposed exile.
He denies wrongdoing and has pledged loyalty to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who is constitutionally defined as being in a position of "revered worship."
The case stems from a complaint by the royalist military that ousted both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra from office in coups in 2006 and 2014.
Thaksin’s is the highest-profile case among more than 280 recent prosecutions under the controversial lese-majeste law, which rights groups say is used to silence dissent and sideline political rivals. Royalists defend the law as necessary to protect the crown.
Both prosecutors and Thaksin can appeal Friday’s ruling. Asked last month about the case, Thaksin said: "I am not worried."
The ruling comes a week ahead of another verdict involving Thaksin’s daughter, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has been in office for only a year.
She faces possible dismissal by the Constitutional Court over an alleged ethics violation linked to a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen during a diplomatic crisis that spiralled into armed conflict.
Though Thaksin holds no official post, he is widely seen as the power behind the ruling Pheu Thai party, which is struggling with declining popularity, economic headwinds, and tensions with Cambodia.
Thaksin returned to Thailand in 2023 after 15 years abroad to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, later reduced to one year by royal pardon.
He did not spend time in prison, instead being transferred on medical grounds to a police hospital’s VIP wing, where he stayed for six months before release on parole.
The Supreme Court will rule next month on whether that hospital stay counts as time served, a decision that could see the former premier sent back to prison.
