The Corrections Department has been accused of double standards in its handling of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was “imprisoned” for six months at the Police General Hospital before enjoying early release last month.
Critics say Justice Minister Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong, who oversees the department, should be held responsible for alleged VIP treatment that meant the convicted ex-premier never spent a single day behind bars.
Tawee has denied the allegations, insisting Thaksin enjoyed no special privileges and the same treatment was available to any eligible inmate.
Thaksin’s early release is fueling speculation that his younger sister and fellow ex-PM, Yingluck, may take the same route to freedom.
She has lived in exile overseas since fleeing Thailand in August 2017, a month before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions sentenced her to five years for negligence in her government’s rice subsidy program.
Tawee said recently that he had not received any pardon requests for Yingluck but added that she had the right to apply for royal clemency.
Chosen for the job?
Tawee, 64, is leader of the coalition’s Prachachat Party, which won nine MP seats in last year’s general election. Formerly the party’s secretary-general, he replaced Wan Muhamad Noor Matha (aka Wan Noor) at its helm in August last year after his predecessor stepped down to take the job of House speaker and Parliament president.
Some analysts view Tawee’s appointment as part of an elaborate plot to pave the way for Thaksin’s return to Thailand without having to serve jail time. They claim the plot traces back to the tenure of the previous justice minister, Somsak Thepsuthin, who is currently deputy prime minister in the Pheu Thai-led government.
Under Somsak, the Justice Ministry in 2020 issued a regulation promoting early release of inmates to clarify an amendment to the Corrections Act made three years earlier to reduce prison overcrowding.
In December, the Corrections Department under Tawee issued a new regulation based on the ministry directive on criteria for early release, namely illness and advanced age (70 or over).
As Thaksin is 74 years old and described by officials as seriously ill, critics allege this regulation was aimed at benefiting him. Their allegation was denied by the justice minister.
Thaksin’s application for a royal pardon was processed by then-deputy PM Wissanu Kreangam, who doubled as caretaker justice minister following Somsak’s resignation, during the last few weeks of General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s caretaker administration following the 2023 election.
Granted just days after his return on August 22, the pardon reduced Thaksin’s prison term from eight years to one.
Linked to the Shinawatras
Tawee had enjoyed close ties with the Shinawatras long before he entered politics six years ago, and when the Thaksin-influenced Pheu Thai Party formed a government coalition last year, he was expected to become the justice minister.
Even after his party’s leader, Wan Noor, was handed the House speakership in a deal between Pheu Thai and Move Forward, Tawee remained favorite to pick up the justice portfolio.
Yet, certain elements in Pheu Thai reportedly wanted the ministerial seat for their own party, arguing that Tawee’s nine-MP Prachachat had already secured the powerful House speakership.
However, Tawee appeared to have the all-important backing of the Shinawatras, according to observers.
Born on September 23, 1959, in Angthong province, Tawee graduated from the Royal Police Cadet Academy and received a master’s degree in social development from Kasetsart University.
Sidelined after 2014 coup
He began his police career as investigations deputy inspector at a police station in Chanthaburi province, rising to deputy commander at the Crime Suppression Division.
In 2004, he switched to civil service as deputy director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), then deputy secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board, before returning to the DSI as director-general in 2008.
He then joined the Justice Ministry as deputy permanent secretary, going on to become secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center in 2011.
After the military coup in May 2014, Tawee was transferred to the post of adviser at the Prime Minister’s Office.
His key civil service appointments were made under two prime ministers from the Shinawatra clan – Yingluck and Somchai Wongsawat, who is Thaksin’s brother-in-law.
Tawee quit the bureaucracy in 2018 to join Prachachat as its secretary-general. He contested the 2019 general election but failed to get elected.
In last year’s election, Tawee was elected as one of his party’s two list MPs, the other being then-party leader Wan Noor.
By Thai PBS World’s Political Desk
