Inside Klong Prem: What Awaits Thaksin Behind Bars

Inside Klong Prem: What Awaits Thaksin Behind Bars

Former inmates describe Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison as cramped, austere, and tense, with prisoners sleeping on thin blankets on the floor and washing in open communal areas. Food is plain and portions small, while the risk of intimidation or violence is part of daily life. Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, has begun serving a one-year term there after a court ruled his long hospital stay did not count toward his sentence. He initially undergoes quarantine and, due to age and profile, is expected to be kept in lower-risk zones. The conditions underscore how far the former prime minister has fallen from political power to prison routine.