A SPOTLIGHT has been turned on political stability in Thailand once again after the country’s Supreme Court yesterday decided that ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his former wife unlawfully concealed his assets while in office and abused power for personal gain.
The court ruled that of 43 billion confiscated baht (€960 million), 30 billion baht (€670 million) should be returned to Mr Thaksin, although the revenue commissioners want to examine this amount for tax reasons.
By only seizing part of the popular former prime minister’s assets, the verdict can be seen as a compromise as it allows both sides to claim victory and it may head off immediate violence in Thailand. Some €1.5 billion worth of assets were frozen after Mr Thaksin’s elected government was overthrown by the coup, but security forces were on high alert yesterday amid widespread predictions of violence by Mr Thaksin’s red-shirted supporters.
The way the verdict is presented is crucial because if the court finding had come down too hard against Mr Thaksin, that could have fuelled opposition feelings that he was being victimised, which would have certainly seen angry reactions on the streets of Bangkok.
Mr Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and convicted in his absence of corruption, but he remains hugely popular in Thailand, especially in his power base in the north.
Uncertainty surrounding Mr Thaksin’s intentions means that rumours about another possible coup refuse to die down in the southeast Asian monarchy, which has seen serious political unrest as an almost annual occurrence in the past four years.
Mr Thaksin, who has 30 days to appeal the findings, has denied the charges from self-imposed exile in Dubai and has on occasion made noises that he would be prepared to stage a coup in Thailand.
Mr Thaksin and his former wife, Potjaman na Pombejra, were found to have concealed ownership of shares in his family business Shin Corp while in office from 2001 to 2006 and to have abused power by tailoring policies to benefit the company.
Security was tight around Bangkok’s Supreme Court on what was widely described as “judgment day”. Some 600 troops guarded the courtroom, with mobile phone signals jammed to prevent remote-detonated bombings and judges were brought to the courthouse in bullet-proof cars. Thousands more riot police stood guard on the streets of the capital.
