A 10-member panel, tasked with reviewing the Medical Council’s resolution regarding the treatment of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has requested additional documents from the Council.
If the documents are submitted expeditiously, the panel, established by Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin in his capacity as special chairman of the Council, may be able to conclude its deliberations this week.
Otherwise, the decision will be postponed to May 26 or 29, said Public Health Vice Minister Thanakrit Chitarirat yesterday, following the panel’s first meeting.
The panel was set up on May 15, to advise Somsak on the Council’s resolution. It has been given 15 days to conclude its work.
Thanakrit added that each member will individually review the evidence and documents, then submit their written opinions for Somsak’s final assessment.
The Council has suspended two doctors, over alleged ethical violations related to Thaksin’s treatment at the Department of Corrections Hospital and the Police General Hospital, following his return from self-imposed exile.
Thaksin, 75, returned to Thailand in August 2023, after more than a decade abroad, and was sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and abuse of power.
He was, however, almost immediately transferred from a detention center to a VIP room at the police hospital, where he remained for six months without spending a single night in a prison cell.
The Council’s ethics committee voted to suspend the two doctors who issued medical certificates for Thaksin, citing discrepancies between their reports and his actual medical condition.
A third doctor, whose involvement had “less severe consequences,” will receive a formal warning letter.
The resolution is seen as a significant blow to Thaksin, the de facto leader of the current administration, with his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, as prime minister.
