Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been acquitted of a royal defamation charge stemming from a 2015 interview he gave to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

Assessing the interview, the Court ruled that Thaksin did not mention the late King Bhumipol by name or make any direct royal reference but instead, spoke of ‘the privy council’, ‘the military’, ‘the palace circle’, and ‘people in the palace’.

The Court further noted that apart from a single linguistic expert, the plaintiff presented witnesses that attended demonstrations to expel the former PM, raising doubt about their impartiality.

It added that there was no verification that a video clip submitted as evidence was the original, and the person who uploaded the clip could not be identified.

Examining the Facebook page and YouTube channel where Thaksin’s interview clip was disseminated, it found that those who received and shared the clip consistently understood that the defendant’s remarks to be critical of the coup and seizure of power by senior military officers, and members of the Privy Council. They did not construe that Thaksin was implying that the late King was behind the coup.

The former PM was indicted for royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act on 29 May 2024 over his 2015 interview given to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. In the interview, he claimed that privy councillors supported the 2014 coup, which ousted the government of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was elected in the 2011 general election and ousted by the coup in 2014.

The royal defamation complaint against Thaksin was filed by the Technology Crime Suppression Division in 2016. Given that Thaksin did not report to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), the OAG decided to indict him and issued an arrest warrant. As the statute of limitations in this case is 15 years and has yet to run out, the case was reinitiated after he returned from self-exile.

The former PM has been granted provisional bail with 500,000 baht as security on the grounds that he has a permanent residence, and it is believed that he does not pose a flight risk and will not tamper with the evidence.

During his witness examination hearing on 19 August 2024, Thaksin pleaded not guilty to the charges.

After returning home in August 2023 after 15 years in exile, he was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption and malfeasance, but he was later granted a royal pardon.

The term was reduced to one year on the ground that he respected the judicial process and accepted his sentence, as well as because of his old age and need for medical care. Thaksin has never spent a day behind bars due to his illness. Instead, he served his prison term in the Police Hospital.   

This hospitalisation led to another legal proceeding against him.  Critics allege that he faked an illness to escape from being imprisoned like normal detainees. The verdict in this case is scheduled to be delivered on 9 September.