Ex-prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said today that her family’s life “has many flavours,” after visiting her father Thaksin in prison and talking to him through a glass partition.
She said her father remains mentally strong and even offered her encouragement. “This time, I had to talk to him through a glass partition. That’s our family’s life now, which I personally feel is full of many flavours,” she said.
Her family’s main concern is his health, due to his age, as he has suffered from high blood pressure and stress, Paetongtarn added.
Accompanying her on the visit, the first since Thaksin completed his five-day quarantine on first entering prison, were Thaksin’s ex-wife, Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra, and Paetongtarn’s elder sister, Pinthongtha Kunakornwong (née Shinawatra).
She said she met her father in a room, equipped with a glass partition and a telephone for communication, for about half an hour.
“My father has already had his hair cut short. I offered him moral support and encouragement. In return, he offered me his support as well,” she said.
The Constitutional Court removed Paetongtarn from office on August 29, for an ethical breach over her private but controversial conversation with Cambodia’s Hun Sen.
A few weeks later, the Supreme Court ordered Thaksin to be sent to prison, ruling that his six-month stay in hospital was an attempt to avoid incarceration.
The case dates back to August 2023, when he spent only a few hours in prison upon returning from decades of self-imposed exile, before being taken to hospital after complaining of heart trouble and chest pain.
His move to the hospital prompted widespread scepticism and public outrage.
Thaksin’s eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power, while serving as prime minister from 2001–2006, was later commuted to one year by His Majesty the King.
He was released on parole after just six months of detention, all of which he spent in the VIP wing of a hospital.
Paetongtarn said many people have expressed support for both her father and herself.
