Thai King Birthday Pardon Excludes Thaksin: Official

[Lite Beer]

Thai King birthday pardon excludes Thaksin: official

BANGKOK, December 4, 2011 (AFP) - An annual royal pardon granted to thousands of convicts to mark the revered Thai king's birthday this week will not include fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the prisons chief said Sunday.

Media reports emerged last month saying the cabinet had endorsed a draft pardon that could allow Thaksin to return without serving time, prompting anger from his rivals, but the government later appeared to back off from such a move.

While around 22,000 prisoners will benefit from the pardon which comes into effect on Sunday, a day ahead of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 84th birthday, Thaksin will not, corrections department chief Suchart Wongananchai told AFP.

"He (Thaksin) will not qualify," he said.

As in previous years, the royal pardon will only apply to people who have spent time in prison, Suchart added.

Thaksin, who remains a hugely divisive figure, was deposed by the army in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile overseas to avoid a two-year prison term on a corruption conviction that he contends is politically motivated.

His sister Yingluck is now premier after a resounding election victory by his party earlier this year, in the wake of mass opposition protests in 2010 by Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters which ended with a bloody army crackdown.

Yingluck's government said Friday that Thailand would issue a passport for Thaksin "very soon", stoking the tensions with his opponents.

He was stripped of his passport by the previous government but received citizenship from Montenegro last year, allowing him to travel internationally.

News of his new passport comes at a delicate time for Yingluck as the 44-year-old leader, who was a political novice before taking office in August, deals with the aftermath of the kingdom's worst floods in decades.

Yingluck has not yet taken any legal action clearing the path for her brother's return, and analysts have warned it would be risky for her to do so during the flood crisis, although the waters are now receding in many areas.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-12-04

[hanuman1]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Edited December 4, 2011 by hanuman1

[Lite Beer]

Corrections Department to release ~ 12,000 inmates on Dec 8 under royal pardon decree while over 10,000 prisoners receive reduced punishment /MCOT

[whybother]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Not many I would imagine.

[KRS1]

Can it be any clearer what this governments intentions REALLY are?

[phiphidon]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Not many I would imagine.

You're very probably right there - the number of convicted Red Shirts is probably less than 20 at a guess, including the seven who recently got 6 months for violating the emergency decree (one got an additional 3 years for stealing a mobile phone and battery) - they couldn't charge them for arson at Central World as they were nothing to do with it. And seeing as they have already spent 18 months behind bars six of them should be set free anyway. Yes, held in prison for 1 year more than their sentence.

So actually probably less than 10.

I do not know what the position is as far as the amnesty is concerned with the Red Shirts that haven't been to trial yet , 18 months after been sent to prison.

[Oberkommando]

Why is the prisons chief commenting when Thaksin hasn't spent even a single minute in prison?

[softgeorge]

"While around 22,000 prisoners will benefit from the pardon" Wow that is a lot of pardons.

Anyway happy birthday to the King and long may he continue.

[OzMick]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Not many I would imagine.

You're very probably right there - the number of convicted Red Shirts is probably less than 20 at a guess, including the seven who recently got 6 months for violating the emergency decree (one got an additional 3 years for stealing a mobile phone and battery) - they couldn't charge them for arson at Central World as they were nothing to do with it. And seeing as they have already spent 18 months behind bars six of them should be set free anyway. Yes, held in prison for 1 year more than their sentence.

So actually probably less than 10.

I do not know what the position is as far as the amnesty is concerned with the Red Shirts that haven't been to trial yet , 18 months after been sent to prison.

Perhaps they should ask for a credit note for their next sentence.

As for those still on remand, perhaps they should ask the government that they helped install to accelerate their cases to trial, if they could spare a little time from helping their criminal leader get visas, passport and pardon.

[animatic]

Why is the prisons chief commenting when Thaksin hasn't spent even a single minute in prison?

Because that is one element of the pardons qualifications that Thaksin has not effectuated.

[Lite Beer]

Royal decree to pardon inmates enacted

His Majesty the King has issued a royal command to enact a royal decree to pardon some 20,000 inmates nationwide on the occasion of his 84th birthday anniversary.

The decree, which was signed by His Majesty, was based on the royal pardon decree enacted last year by the Democrat Party led government.

In the statement published on the Royal Gazette, His Majesty said the inmates should be given a second chance on the occasion of King's birthday anniversary.

The 2011 royal pardon decree states that the eligible inmates must have been detained in prisons or detention centres sanctioned by courts or government agencies.

The 2011 decree was a little bit different from the last year's decree on the point that inmates convicted in drug cases are also eligible for royal pardon on ground that their jail term must not be longer than eight years.

The Corrections Department has used the criteria of the decree to screen eligible inmates and reported that 20,000 will be eligible. The department said 12,000 inmates will be released on December 8 and the rest will be gradually released later

-- The Nation 2011-12-04

[metisdead]

A post using inappropriate context has been removed.

[Misterwhisper]

What is it anyway with some people's obsession to bring that man back at all cost? From any angle I could think of, it would be far more preferable to let the man stay in Dubai if reconciliation is ever to be achieved. As Thaksin himself once said: He would like to be part of reconciliation, but not part of the problem. Though what he hasn't realized is that he IS the problem.

[whybother]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Not many I would imagine.

You're very probably right there - the number of convicted Red Shirts is probably less than 20 at a guess, including the seven who recently got 6 months for violating the emergency decree (one got an additional 3 years for stealing a mobile phone and battery) - they couldn't charge them for arson at Central World as they were nothing to do with it. And seeing as they have already spent 18 months behind bars six of them should be set free anyway. Yes, held in prison for 1 year more than their sentence.

So actually probably less than 10.

I do not know what the position is as far as the amnesty is concerned with the Red Shirts that haven't been to trial yet , 18 months after been sent to prison.

And are any of those convicted over 60?

How many of the red shirts are still in prison awaiting trial?

[animatic]

What is it anyway with some people's obsession to bring that man back at all cost? From any angle I could think of, it would be far more preferable to let the man stay in Dubai if reconciliation is ever to be achieved. As Thaksin himself once said: He would like to be part of reconciliation, but not part of the problem. Though what he hasn't realized is that he IS the problem.

He has enough money to back his obsession with gaining back lost face from being deposed, and the obsessively venal under-card players want a piece of his pie while he lasts. Not much more to it than this.

[hellodolly]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Not many I would imagine.

You're very probably right there - the number of convicted Red Shirts is probably less than 20 at a guess, including the seven who recently got 6 months for violating the emergency decree (one got an additional 3 years for stealing a mobile phone and battery) - they couldn't charge them for arson at Central World as they were nothing to do with it. And seeing as they have already spent 18 months behind bars six of them should be set free anyway. Yes, held in prison for 1 year more than their sentence.

So actually probably less than 10.

I do not know what the position is as far as the amnesty is concerned with the Red Shirts that haven't been to trial yet , 18 months after been sent to prison.

And are any of those convicted over 60?

How many of the red shirts are still in prison awaiting trial?

Dosen't really matter if they have been to trial or not.

The decree reads and I quote

"

The 2011 royal pardon decree states that the eligible inmates must have been detained in prisons or detention centres sanctioned by courts or government agencies."

So apparently just being detained is enough to make them eligible.

[MEL1]

Thai King birthday pardon excludes Thaksin: official

the prison's chief said.......

That's really official..... and unbent, I must say...

-mel.

[ding]

Long live the King. Happy birthday and many more!

[sillybilly]

So with the changesd that the current cabinet may or may not have made. Anybody have any idea how many of those this year are a result of the changes made and if the changes were not made does that mean there would have been about an extra few thousand pardoned??

[bristolgeoff]

at lest he does not get the pardon,but long live the king happy birthday.have a long life

[wxyz]

that is good news, are any expats included?thaksin is already the PM in proxy anyway, why does he need to come to thailand for? the wedding? as if, he could not fly the whole wedding party to him.

[Siam Simon]

Equally interesting to find out will be the number of incarcerated Red Shirt affiliated criminals that get let out. Watch this space....

Not many I would imagine.

You're very probably right there - the number of convicted Red Shirts is probably less than 20 at a guess, including the seven who recently got 6 months for violating the emergency decree (one got an additional 3 years for stealing a mobile phone and battery) - they couldn't charge them for arson at Central World as they were nothing to do with it. And seeing as they have already spent 18 months behind bars six of them should be set free anyway. Yes, held in prison for 1 year more than their sentence.

So actually probably less than 10.

I do not know what the position is as far as the amnesty is concerned with the Red Shirts that haven't been to trial yet , 18 months after been sent to prison.

Perhaps they should ask for a credit note for their next sentence.

As for those still on remand, perhaps they should ask the government that they helped install to accelerate their cases to trial, if they could spare a little time from helping their criminal leader get visas, passport and pardon.

Considering the amount of outright libel committed on this forum, maybe the libelous posters should start asking for credit notes on their sentences for when the authorities get through the more important, pressing matters, and eventually find the time to deal with all the less pressing stuff that needs to be dealt with.

[tlansford]

Not many I would imagine.

You're very probably right there - the number of convicted Red Shirts is probably less than 20 at a guess, including the seven who recently got 6 months for violating the emergency decree (one got an additional 3 years for stealing a mobile phone and battery) - they couldn't charge them for arson at Central World as they were nothing to do with it. And seeing as they have already spent 18 months behind bars six of them should be set free anyway. Yes, held in prison for 1 year more than their sentence.

So actually probably less than 10.

I do not know what the position is as far as the amnesty is concerned with the Red Shirts that haven't been to trial yet , 18 months after been sent to prison.

Perhaps they should ask for a credit note for their next sentence.

As for those still on remand, perhaps they should ask the government that they helped install to accelerate their cases to trial, if they could spare a little time from helping their criminal leader get visas, passport and pardon.

Considering the amount of outright libel committed on this forum, maybe the libelous posters should start asking for credit notes on their sentences for when the authorities get through the more important, pressing matters, and eventually find the time to deal with all the less pressing stuff that needs to be dealt with.

aaah, like usual, ... no facts, no information, no real point, ... no harm done...

[webfact]

HM pardons 26,000 inmates, including some drug convicts

The Nation

His Majesty the King has issued a royal command pardoning some 26,000 prisoners to mark his 84th birthday.

The decree, which was signed by His Majesty, was based on the one initiated last year by the Democrat Party-led government.

In a statement published in the Royal Gazette, His Majesty said the convicts should be given a second chance.

To be eligible for this year's royal pardon, inmates must have been detained in prisons or detention centres sanctioned by the court or government agencies.

This year's pardon differs significantly from last year's by including inmates convicted on drug charges, as long as their sentences were not longer than eight years.

Using the broader criteria, the Corrections Department screened inmates and found 26,000 eligible. The first batch of 12,000 will be released on Thursday and the rest will be freed gradually, said the director-general of the Department of Corrections, Pol Colonel Suchart Wongananta-chai.

Earlier, it was feared that the Pheu Thai Party-led government would use this year's royal pardon to absolve former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was convicted of a corruption-related offence.

Democrat MP Thepthai Senpong yesterday thanked the government for heeding public opinion and not drafting the decree to benefit Thaksin.

But Thepthai said the government had yet to answer two questions.

The first was whether it was appropriate for Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul to return Thaksin's citizen's passport to him as a New Year's gift, even though Thaksin is a fugitive from the law.

The second was why the government has been helping Thaksin visit various countries, even though he is a fugitive.

Pornphan Boonyarat, chairwoman of the Senate committee on law enforcement and monarchy protection, said she was satisfied that this year's pardon decree did not deviate from last year's.

The decree was not enacted to help anyone in particular, so senators would not make any

move against the government, she said.

Prompong Nopparit, Pheu Thai spokesman, said returning Thaksin's passport was not illegal, but was returning justice to him.

-- The Nation 2011-12-05

[Roadman]

(Deleted posted edited out)

Yeap its a bugger isn't it. Monkey see, monkey do.

Anyway good job that the convicted criminal and biggest rule breaker of all is still exiled from the Kingdom. Long may it continue.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Scott
deleted quote edited out

[MILT]

(Deleted quote edited out)

Why would you make a comment like this? Thaskin is nothing more than a wanted fugitive who has and is manipulating the government/s and some of the kingdoms peoples

Edited December 5, 2011 by Scott
deleted quote edited out

[jalansanitwong]

What a brilliant idea. Release 22,000 convicted criminals on the streets ! I wonder if the crime rate goes up every year around this time ?

[Heimdallr]

What a brilliant idea. Release 22,000 convicted criminals on the streets ! I wonder if the crime rate goes up every year around this time ?

So all convicted criminals should stay locked up forever?

[Scott]

A post with comments about moderation has been deleted. Replies have been edited.

[Rimmer]

One racial slur post has been removed.