Ex-Thai PM Thaksin leaves Singapore after brief medical visit, a day before court ruling

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has reportedly left Singapore as of Monday (Sept 8) afternoon.

This comes a day before Thailand's Supreme Court is due to rule on his hospital detention.

Thaksin's private jet departed Singapore's Seletar Airport at 1.46pm, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

The aircraft landed in Bangkok at 2.55pm local time (3.55pm Singapore time).

Shortly after the aircraft landed, a black-and-silver Mercedes sedan — frequently used by Thaksin — entered the private jet terminal, which had been cordoned off by airport authorities with barricades and uniformed guards, Reuters reported.

Thaksin had told Thai Enquirer on Monday that he had landed in Singapore and will be returning to Bangkok that same evening, as planned.

Departure delayed

The 76-year-old billionaire left Thailand on Sept 5, just hours before a Parliament vote confirmed tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul as the replacement for Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the country's Prime Minister.

At the time, Thaksin said he was headed to Singapore for a medical check-up.

However, Thai officials had delayed his departure for nearly two hours, preventing his jet from landing at Seletar Airport before it closed operations for the evening, he wrote on his X account later that day.

Thaksin's jet then turned around over Malaysia and diverted to Dubai, according to tracker Flightradar24.

"Since I couldn't land in Singapore, I decided to have the pilot change my plan (and fly) to Dubai," Thaksin wrote.

He added that he would visit friends in Dubai as well as orthopaedic and pulmonary doctors who have treated him before.

"I intend to return to Thailand no later than the 8th to travel to court myself on Sept 9," he said.

On Tuesday, the Thai Supreme Court will decide if the time Thaksin spent in hospital detention in 2023 instead of prison should not count as time served, reported Reuters.

He spent only a few hours in jail before being transferred to a VIP wing of a hospital on medical grounds in 2023 upon his return from 15 years of self-exile to serve his sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power.

Thaksin was sentenced to eight years for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, which was commuted to a year by the king of Thailand. He was released on parole after six months in detention. 

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com