The Supreme Administrative Court has ordered the former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay 10 billion baht in damages following her administration’s rice pledging scheme.

The Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday (22 May) overturned the Central Administrative Court’s earlier decision which rejected the Finance Ministry’s 2016 claim for damages of 35 billion baht from the former PM for alleged corruption in the rice pledging scheme.

The Central Administrative Court previously ruled that the Finance Ministry lacked sufficient evidence to prove that Yingluck's actions directly caused damage. The Ministry appealed the ruling and Yingluck later filed a lawsuit against the Ministry.

However, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered Yingluck to pay 10 billion baht, citing negligence that resulted in significant losses.

There were two cases linked to the scheme. The first one was a fake government-to-government (G2G) rice export agreement, over which several high-profile figures have been jailed, including Boonsong Teriyapirom, the former Commerce Minister, who was sentenced to 48 years in prison. This was reduced by royal clemency announcements to 10 years and 8 months and he was released on parole in December last year after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Many of those found guilty have had their sentences reduced and their jail terms suspended.

Following the G2G case, the Finance Ministry in 2016 filed a lawsuit to claim damages of 35 billion baht from Yingluck.

In addition, the military-led government under the National Council for Peace and Order, filed a criminal lawsuit against Yingluck in 2017 over alleged negligence that led to corruption in the rice-pledging scheme. The court sentenced her to five years in prison after trying her in absentia, as she had fled the country and failed to appear in court.

Yingluck has been in exile since 2017. However, many have recently predicted her return to Thailand after her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, returned home in August 2023 after over 15 years in self-exile and despite being found guilty, he has not served any time in prison.