{"id":75381,"date":"2024-06-18T07:25:27","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T07:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/18\/thaksin-former-thai-premier-indicted-on-charges-of-insulting-monarchy\/"},"modified":"2024-06-18T07:25:27","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T07:25:27","slug":"thaksin-former-thai-premier-indicted-on-charges-of-insulting-monarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/18\/thaksin-former-thai-premier-indicted-on-charges-of-insulting-monarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"Thaksin, Former Thai Premier, Indicted on Charges of Insulting Monarchy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/18\/multimedia\/18thailand-politics-lvth\/18thailand-politics-lvth-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Thaksin, Former Thai Premier, Indicted on Charges of Insulting Monarchy\" title=\"Thaksin, Former Thai Premier, Indicted on Charges of Insulting Monarchy\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister of Thailand who is also a powerful behind-the-scenes player in the current government, was indicted on Tuesday on a criminal charge of insulting the monarchy, ushering in a period of uncertainty that could plunge the country into a political crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Thaksin is the most high-profile figure to be charged with violating the royal defamation law, which is one of the world\u2019s harshest. He posted bail of about $14,000, according to Thailand\u2019s court of justice, but the case could drag on for months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The indictment was the latest sign of Thailand\u2019s royalist-military establishment exerting its will. It allowed Mr. Thaksin to enter the country last year after 15 years of self-exile and effectively partnered with him \u2014 a longtime opponent \u2014 to prevent a new challenger from rising to power. Now, analysts say, it has used the threat of legal action against Mr. Thaksin, 74, to keep a check on his political ambitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although Mr. Thaksin does not have a formal position in the current government, he is widely regarded to have powerful influence over the governing coalition, which is led by his political party, the Pheu Thai Party. Many of his allies have cabinet appointments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The current prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, who is an ally of Mr. Thaksin\u2019s, is also facing legal challenges that could leave him suspended from office. He is accused of running afoul of the constitution by appointing a lawyer with a criminal conviction to his cabinet. Mr. Srettha\u2019s case was heard on Tuesday in the Constitutional Court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That court is also hearing a petition to disband the opposition Move Forward Party, which won the top spot in last year\u2019s election but was blocked from forming a government. In January, the court found the party guilty of breaching the constitution over its campaign to weaken the royal defamation law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The cases are a reminder of who controls the levers of power in Thailand. The country has long been dominated by a royalist-military establishment that has used the justice system or the armed forces to crush any challengers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The accusations against Mr. Thaksin stem from an interview that he gave to a South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo,<em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> <\/em>nine years ago, during which he said that the king\u2019s top advisory body, the privy council, helped engineer a coup in 2014. He is also charged with entering into a computer system information that was deemed a threat to national security. Mr. Thaksin pleaded not guilty to all charges, his lawyer, Winyat Chatmontree, told reporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Thaksin\u2019s passport was confiscated by the authorities, and he is now barred from traveling abroad, Mr. Winyat said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Thaksin has long been the old guard\u2019s boogeyman. A charismatic telecom billionaire, his populist policies galvanized voters in the rural north. Mr. Thaksin was ousted in 2006 after about five years in office, and his \u201cred shirt\u201d supporters clashed with the anti-Thaksin \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/04\/19\/world\/asia\/19thai.html\" title=\"\">yellow shirt<\/a>\u201d faction made up of royalists and the urban elite in the streets of Bangkok for much of the 2000s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Thaksin fled the country after his ouster but remained influential while he lived in Dubai and London. The political parties he founded consistently won the most votes in every election \u2014 except last year when the progressive Move Forward Party <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/14\/world\/asia\/thailand-election-results.html\" title=\"\">clinched a surprise victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last year, Mr. Thaksin made a dramatic return to Thailand in what many saw as part of a deal with his former opponents in the old guard to keep Move Forward out of power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although he was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of corruption and abuse of power when he returned to Bangkok, he never had to serve a day in jail. Soon after his return, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/01\/world\/asia\/thailand-thaksin-shinawatra-prison.html\" title=\"\">the king commuted<\/a> his sentence to one year. In February, he was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/18\/world\/asia\/thailand-prime-minister-paroled.html\" title=\"\">released on parole<\/a> after spending his jail term in a hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was clear after his return that Mr. Thaksin could not resist staying out of politics. Last month, he held talks with resistance groups in Myanmar, forcing Thailand\u2019s foreign minister to clarify that the discussions <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/politics\/2788300\/foreign-minister-comfy-with-thaksins-intervention-in-myanmar\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">were not part of the Thai government\u2019s policy<\/a> toward its neighbor. He reportedly <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/politics\/2789274\/thaksin-met-with-malaysias-anwar\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">met with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim<\/a> of Malaysia last month. He has also traveled around the country, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationthailand.com\/news\/politics\/40038804\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">courting Thailand\u2019s<\/a> political bigwigs in an apparent effort to isolate the Move Forward Party in the next elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then, last month, the attorney general announced that he would indict Mr. Thaksin for violating the royal criticism law. The law, which is punishable by three to 15 years in prison, has often been used against activists and, most recently, protesters who demonstrated in Bangkok in 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The political uncertainty in Thailand has rattled investors. Its stock index has fallen roughly 16 percent in the past year and is the world\u2019s worst-performing benchmark over that period, according to Bloomberg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The original complaint made against Mr. Thaksin was filed in 2015 by Gen. Udomdej Sitabutr, who, at the time, was the deputy defense minister in the military junta that seized power in a coup a year earlier. The authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Thaksin, but he had moved abroad by then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/18\/world\/asia\/thaksin-thailand-indicted-monarchy.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister of Thailand who is also a powerful behind-the-scenes player in the current government, was indicted on Tuesday on a criminal charge of insulting the monarchy, ushering in a period of uncertainty that could plunge the country into a political crisis. Mr. Thaksin is the most high-profile figure to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/18\/multimedia\/18thailand-politics-lvth\/18thailand-politics-lvth-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5808,43802,16707,68558,4638,5550,68557],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75383,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75381\/revisions\/75383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}