The Medical Council’s decision to punish three doctors over Thaksin Shinawatra’s controversial six-month hospital stay in place of jail time has delivered a dangerous blow to the embattled former prime minister.
The council based its decision on an investigation by its fact-finding commission, led by Prof Dr Amorn Leelarasamee, a council member and former president of the Medical Association of Thailand.
Decision by ruling body
On May 8, Prof Dr Prasit Watanapa, the council’s first vice president, announced that a “significant majority” of the 70-member council had resolved to punish the three doctors.
Two will have their medical licences suspended while the third will receive a formal warning.
The Medical Council is split 50:50 between elected and ex-officio members, the latter including deans of medical faculties, senior Public Health Ministry officials, and military medical chiefs.
Prasit said the investigation showed that two doctors from the Police General Hospital had provided false medical documents, while a third from the Corrections Department’s Hospital had referred Thaksin for hospital treatment.
However, there was no evidence to prove that Thaksin was suffering a medical crisis requiring his transfer to a suite at the Police General Hospital, he added.
The decision marks a further blow to Thaksin, coming just weeks after the Supreme Court reopened the investigation into his hospital transfer – raising the prospect that he could still face jail time.
The Medical Council did not name the three doctors, but media outlets have identified them as Pol Lt-General Soponrat Singhacharu and Pol Lt-General Taweesin Wetchavitarn from the Police General Hospital, and Dr Ruamthip Suphanan from the Corrections Department Hospital.
Soponrat is also Thailand’s deputy police chief and formerly the Police General Hospital’s head physician – a post now held by Taweesin.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin, as the Medical Council’s honorary president, has 15 days to accept the council’s decision, including its resolution to suspend the two doctors for up to two years.
While Somsak has the power to veto the decision, the council can reinstate the punishment with support from at least two-thirds of the members.
The two senior Police General Hospital doctors – who both secured promotions after their role in Thaksin’s case – have reportedly called on the public health minister to review the resolution.
Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023 following 15 years of self-exile overseas to face a jail term of eight years on corruption charges.
The sentence was swiftly reduced to one year by royal pardon.
However, on the day of his return he was shifted from Bangkok Remand Prison to a suite in the Police General Hospital for a supposed medical emergency.
He remained in the hospital suite for six months before being released on parole in February last year.
Soon after his release, Thaksin was slapped with lese majesté charges over a 2015 interview with South Korean media – a move that many observers reckoned was part of efforts by the conservative elite to block his political resurgence.
Highly respected
Prof Dr Amorn, whose fact-finding committee has reignited the controversy surrounding Thaksin’s return, is a highly respected medical expert, university lecturer and hospital executive.
The 76-year-old has earned several accolades in a career spanning five decades and remains active in the medical community despite having retired from official duties in recent years.
Born on August 26, 1948, Amorn earned a bachelor’s in medicine from Mahidol University in 1972 before adding certificates in internal medicine from the university two years later and the Medical Council in 1976.
He then studied infectious diseases at the University of California, San Diego in the US in 1981 before earning a master’s in medical sciences (clinical epidemiology) from the University of Newcastle in Australia in 1989.
Amorn began his career as a lecturer at his alma mater in Bangkok in 1977.
After three decades in academia, he became a professor in 2004 and a professor emeritus after retiring in 2013.
He also serves as an expert in infectious diseases and antimicrobials at Siriraj Hospital.
Over the years, Amorn has held key positions at Mahidol University and various medical agencies.
He led the university’s Department of Internal Medicine and Research Support Centre and also served four terms as president of the Infectious Disease Association of Thailand (IDAT) from 1996 to 2009.
He was president of the Royal College of Physicians of Thailand from 2016 to 2018 before becoming chief of the Medical Association in 2020.
His second term at the Medical Council, which he joined in 2021, is due to expire later this year.
Outstanding alumnus
Amorn developed a training programme on infectious diseases for Thai doctors, designed to produce experts for hospitals nationwide.
Meanwhile, even in retirement, he continues to share his advice, knowledge and experience with medical students and younger doctors.
In 2020, Mahidol University honoured him as an outstanding alumnus who has made “significant contributions to society”. Two years ago, the university council awarded him an honorary doctorate in infectious diseases and tropical medicine.
Dr Amorn contested last year’s Senate election as a medical-sector candidate but failed to win a place among the 200 Upper House members. However, the election – conducted by voting among candidates – was marred by allegations of fraud and manipulation.
