Thai ex-PM Thaksin must serve one year in jail after hospital detention deemed unlawful

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is being held at the Bangkok Remand Prison, after receiving a one-year prison sentence from the Supreme Court. His previous hospital detention from August 2023 to February 2024 has been deemed unlawful. The judges said the 76-year-old embellished his illness and therefore, his hospitalisation could not be counted as time served. The verdict — which comes after Mr Thaksin's daughter, former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was sacked by the Constitutional Court earlier this month — is another major blow for a powerful family that has dominated Thai politics for two decades. Saksith Saiyasombut reports.