Convicted ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra is suffering from heart valve disease and rarely has visitors, said Chaichana Detdecho, chairman of the House Police Affairs committee.

He made this statement after visiting the Police General Hospital, where Thaksin has been receiving medical treatment for more than four months.

He and a committee member, Thipa Paweenasathien, a Move Forward MP, were granted access to the 14th floor of the hospital today but were not allowed to enter the wards to find out whether Thaksin is still there.

However, he said he managed to meet a chief nurse, who mentioned that she has never seen Thaksin, but her teammates have taken turns taking care of him. “The chief nurse told us that the former prime minister is suffering from heart valve disease and rarely has visitors,” he told reporters.

Chaichana said it is the responsibility of the Corrections Department to clear up any doubt surrounding Thaksin’s presence at the hospital.

The committee was told by Pol Maj-Gen Samart Muangsiri, a senior doctor at the hospital, that Thaksin is the only prisoner allowed to spend the night at the hospital, while the other prisoners are treated as outpatients. Chaichana said he later descended to the 7th floor, where the committee members were given a briefing on the treatment procedure.

He insisted that the committee’s mission was to clear up doubt about Thaksin’s presence at the hospital, and the best they could do, due to legal constraints, was to meet with some officials. Asked whether Thaksin is actually at the hospital, the Democrat MP said that only the Corrections Department can answer that question.

He also suggested that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin allocates a budget to repair several malfunctioning CCTV cameras in the hospital.