On September 11, a spokesman for the Thai Prison Office said that former Thai Prime Minister Tushin Tshinawa is currently physically and mentally normal and may be a teacher and teacher of foreign languages in prison.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the Criminal Cases Court of Political Officials of the Supreme Court of Thailand ruled on the 9th that Thaksin's hospitalization instead of serving his sentence was illegal and invalid, and sentenced him to imprisonment for another year from now on. Thaksin is currently under five-day quarantine, after which he will be transferred to Kongbing Central Prison in the north of Bangkok, Thailand.

Two informed persons said he believed the prison conditions were ¡°unfriendly¡± and environmentally repressive. The Central Prison is one of Thailand¡¯s five highest-ranking prisons. A former prison administration official said the prison held about 6,500 prisoners in 11 districts, including isolated areas, special areas for high-risk prisoners, etc. Regardless of age, all prisoners slept on the floor, each of which can be divided into three blankets, one as a mattress, one wrapped as a pillow, and the other used as a blanket.

Given the highly sensitive identity of his letter, the Penal Bureau has taken enhanced security measures. In the Central Prison, there are also prisoners who are in conflict with his political beliefs, officials are therefore cautious and are taking measures to prevent potential conflict.

¡°Even if he just served a day in prison, it was contrary to what he believed he had done over the past 19 years. Since 2006, he has spent most of his time in exile, but still worked hard to fight his opponents. Even if it was just a day in prison, it was a dramatic moment for him and for Thailand,¡± said Tintin Ponsudilak, a professor of political science at the University of Chulalongkong, Thailand.

Local time September 9, 2025, Bangkok, Thailand, Thailand's former prime minister, Taishan Sinawa, arrived at the Supreme Court Visual China Map

Two years after returning home

On August 22, 2023, Thaksin landed at the Thai airport. On the same day, Saita, the prime minister candidate nominated by the Thai Party loyal to Thaksin, was successfully elected prime minister.

Thaksin, 76, served as Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. He is famous for his populist and social welfare policies that attract the middle and lower classes, especially farmers from the northeast. He has a high popularity in electoral politics, but has always had tense relations with the "establishment" including conservatives, traditional middle class political parties, military and royal families. On September 19th, 2006, when Thaksin attended the United Nations General Assembly in the United States, the military launched a coup at home. Since then, Thaksin has been in exile for 15 years.

It is widely believed that there is a political transaction behind his sudden return to the country. After the general election of 2023, Thailand fell into a three-month political impasse. Thailand believes that his faith in returning to the country is faithful to his deal for the Thai Party and the conservative camp, for the Thai Party needs to abandon the then "democratic alliance" - the first major party in Congress that advocates progressism and modifies "offending the royal crime" - to resolve the political crisis and contain the momentum of the forward party by alliance with the pro-military party.

¡°Since he returned to his country in exile, there have been signs of some sort of political compromise in Thai society,¡± said Bao Zhiping, a South East Asian scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

After returning to Thailand, Thaksin was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Supreme Court of Thailand. The next day after the judgment, he was urgently transferred to the VIP ward on the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital because of symptoms such as "hypertension and myocardial ischemia". On September 1, 2023, Thaksin, who had been in prison for less than two weeks, was pardoned by the King of Thailand, and his eight-year sentence was reduced to one year. Therefore, Thaksin has never been in prison, and the Thai Party has dominated the civilian government for two years.

In August 2024, Thaksin's daughter Petongthan was elected Prime Minister. She is the fourth Thai Prime Minister of the political family after Thaksin himself, Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra, and Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai. Thaksin also showed his influence in a high profile at home and abroad in Thailand, including delivering a speech on Thailand's economic vision at home, apologizing for the violent suppression of Malay ethnic areas in southern Thailand during his administration, accepting the invitation of Malaysia, the rotating presidency of ASEAN in 2025, as a special envoy adviser, and mediating the civil war in Myanmar.

Critics emphasized that either his long-time ally, Seta, or his politically inexperienced daughter, Petonthan, were just the "front figures" he believed.The assistant professor at Blue Cohn's University in Thailand and a visiting scholar at the Yousafzai South East Asian Institute in Singapore, Vannapon DuLong Cavillo, said in an interview with the press that his message and his political family had a profound impact on the Thai economy, and that Keynesian-style economic policies and social welfare policies that effectively attracted low-income people were continued during Petonthan's reign.

However, the Thaksin family's power position, which has returned to the center of Thailand's power stage, is not stable. According to scholars such as Titinan Ponsudirak, Thaksin, who is known as a "power broker", is so active partly because he wants to strengthen his bargaining chips by showing his influence across borders and respond to the pressure from the conservative camp.

Such an attempt is unlikely from the outcome of Petun Tan¡¯s dismissal and his return to prison. The Thai Party, despite being the main political party of the coalition government, is sometimes ¡°beaten¡± by the conservative camp. On August 14, 2024, Prime Minister Sita was removed from office by the Thai Constitutional Court for violation of moral norms.

Thai academic circles call this political structure, in which the judiciary dominates and tends to make judgments in favor of the conservative camp, "political judicialization". Tinam Pongsudirak explained that it is this state machine that has prevented almost every elected prime minister in Thailand from successfully completing his term of office since 2001, and many prime ministers emerging from Thaksin's family have also lost their positions in such operations.

"So, the ruling of the Supreme Court of Thailand is actually not unexpected. In the past two years, the conservative forces in Thailand have never relaxed their suppression of the core political forces represented by Thaksin's family. With the recent political changes in Thailand, especially some controversial events during Petongtan's administration, including the 'call door' with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen and other issues, the contradictions and games between the two sides have been further aggravated." Bao Zhipeng analyzed.

¡°The decisions of the legal system have always been deeply influenced by the domestic political winds in Thailand. With the arrival of the new Anutin government and the strategic consensus between the proud Thai Party and the Pro-King family and the Progressive People¡¯s Party (formerly the Progressive Party), he believes the situation for the family will be more difficult.¡±

After being sentenced to serve his sentence again, Thaksin showed a reconciliatory gesture in his public statement. The New York Times called this a stark contrast to his past attitude of calling the case "political revenge" when he was in legal trouble.

In a statement on Monday, he said he would ¡°dediciate the rest of his life to the royal family, the people of Thailand and the people of Thailand.¡±

However, the political and social developments in Thailand over the past two years seem to have indicated that the political charm of his belief style has diminished. According to the data, the Thai government has not effectively improved the economy and fulfilled other campaign promises over the past two years. The Thai think tank Keita Research Center estimated in July that Thailand¡¯s economic growth rate for 2025 is estimated at 1.4 percent. Van Phuong-du-Longkaweil also noted that the economic outlook depends heavily on the stability of the government and for the Thai Party to always be unable to stable rule, which constitutes a more important and more direct issue.

On March 14, 2024 local time, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra waved Visual China data map

He decided to spend the rest of his life in Thailand.

On September 4, when Peetonthan was removed from the post of prime minister and re-elected to the House of Representatives for a new prime minister, he left Thailand for a short time. Earlier, the case of his allegations of ¡°insulting the monarchy¡± had been ruled innocent, he stressed his right to leave Thailand. He believed that although he had succeeded in leaving the country, he was interrogated by the Immigration Bureau at the time of leaving, and would temporarily switch from Singapore to Dubai.

This reminds me of his 2006 exile letter, but this time he did not choose to leave, but returned to Thailand for trial and imprisonment.

¡°I think he¡¯s decided to spend the rest of his life in Thailand, even in prison. That¡¯s the only explanation.¡± ¨C Tintin Ponsudilak, a Thai political commentator and Ph.D. graduate student at the University of Michigan at the University of Politics, Ken Marcis Lohhart Pannon, also told the news that he seems to have been balanced by believing that the sentence is better than exile again.

China (Qunmin) South East Asia Research Institute Thailand Institute director, researcherÓຣÇï told the news that Thailand politics has a lot of unopened inside, but the outside world can still spy on certain political trends and his letter back to the trial, meaning he has a certain certainty about the future. During his exit, has reached some agreements with the "Blue Camp" (conservative camp).

According to the Bangkok Post, until the end of the 5 day isolation, the letter will be redistributed to the appropriate prison districts. Possible arrangements include: District 6 ¨C dedicated prison sentences not exceeding 50 years old or sick prisoners; or District 7 ¨C areas focused on education and psychological development.

He said the prison environment was ¡°unfriendly.¡±

According to the current regulations, Thaksin can apply for parole after serving six months in prison. Given his age, he may also meet special parole conditions, but he must first meet the minimum sentence time requirement. The Correctional Services Department is also reviewing the provisions of serving sentences outside prison. Thaksin meets the relevant conditions, but due to the shortage of electronic monitoring equipment, he may not be able to "stand out" among tens of thousands of qualified prisoners in Thailand.

Titinan Ponsudilak believes that he has expressed his willingness to be loyal to the King of Thailand, so he may again look forward to royal pardon, but for Thai politics, the important question is no longer whether he believes in freedom.

"Thaksin has lost his moral commanding heights. Now he is just an empty shell of his former self, and no longer has any moral legitimacy. Once, his arguments and positions have always revolved around the fact that he was a leader elected by *, but he was overthrown by the military. It was this * legitimacy that became the basis of his counterattack, allowing him to give birth to the * Power Red Shirt Army that supported him even though his party was disbanded twice. Everything Thaksin represents and the reasons why the Red Shirts support him are based on 'the legitimacy of * 's elections'. " Tinam Ponsudirak told The Paper.

On September 9, the Red Shirt Army gathered outside his courtroom to express support for the Thai Party and his letter. However, over the past two years there have been more and more Red Shirt Army leaders publicly criticizing his letter and for the Thai Party. In addition, the Red Shirt Army in the streets over a decade ago against the Yellow Shirt Army, has also gradually abandoned the confrontation, and the political forces behind the Democratic Party even joined for the Thai Party coalition government. There are voices that believe that he believes and for the Thai Party has become part of the Thai regime.

"When he returned to China by agreement in 2023 and accepted his prison sentence and corruption conviction, it meant that he accepted the coup and judicial intervention against his sister Yingluck in 2014. He even wore a 'yellow shirt' to show compromise and submission to his opponents," Titinan Ponsudirak said.

In an interview, Shakda Wichai, a former member of the Thai Party who has now defected to Bhumjaithai Party, said that Thaksin's party has lost contact with the grassroots supporters who initially promoted his rise. The New York Times reported that some allies pointed out that Thaksin failed to realize that Thailand had entered a new stage, and today's younger generation had no emotional connection with him and his populist policies. Political parties such as Bhumjaithai Party are eroding his traditional support base, while the People's Party leads the polls.

Critics say that he has been overly focused on family-style ambitions and buried the seeds for the decline of his political party, and it is ironic that it was originally a party with democratic demands, but inside it is a family-controlled party.¡± said Gandhi Spamondo, who once believed the government as foreign minister. The former ally added that he believed that power was also centralized and rarely relied on advisors, and those who challenged him tended to be retaliated.

¡°Hidden in the sleeve.¡±

According to China News Service, after the verdict was pronounced on the 9th, Petongtan accepted a collective interview outside the Supreme Court with a slightly melancholy expression. She said, "This may be heavy for my father, but he and his family keep a good attitude. At present, although my family and I are worried about my father, we are also proud of his many contributions in the history of the country."

Bloomberg on Sunday that he may not have left the Thai political scene forever and that he is still speaking on social media platforms and expects to continue serving ¡°the royal family, the country and the people.¡±

Paul Chambers, an expert on Thailand at the Issa Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Yusof, Singapore, analyzed that the prince's room camp still needs Thaksin. "They want to use Thaksin as a trump card hidden in their cuffs."

According to an agreement between the Annunti government and the largest opposition People's Party, the People's Party, in a way that provides trust and supply, allowed Annunti to form a cabinet but did not join the government, and the government must dissolve the Congress within four months and hold early general elections. If the general election was held successfully in the first half of next year, the pro-King's camp would use his letter as a code for fighting the People's Party and drawing voters.

¡°He has realized that the ¡®super deal¡¯ that allowed him to return home is not to get him and the Thai Party to rule to boost Thailand¡¯s economy, but only to exclude the Progressive Party/People¡¯s Party from the government,¡± Tintin Ponsudilak told the news.

He believes that his imprisonment means a decentralization and a weakening of power for the Thai party, "but everything is possible for the distracted political situation in Thailand."

¡°Over the past two years, he has played an important role in assisting candidates for the Thai party, and at least for now, the party has to think about how to campaign for the next general election without relying on him,¡± said Ken Marcis Lohhart Panont.

Bao Zhipeng believes that Thaksin's imprisonment means that the suppression of his family is entering a new round of escalation. "It is expected that the game between Thaksin's family and conservative forces will continue".

Titinan Ponsudirac analyzed that from the perspective of political line, the "Thaksin chapter" in Thai politics has come to an end, but this is not the end of Thaksin's "personal chapter". "He is likely to continue to play a political role. He is keen to be the focus of public opinion and considers himself a 'dealmaker', although his past deals have frustrated him politically many times. To be sure, the establishment's suppression of Thaksin is not limited to him. Anyone or political party that blocks its path will be targeted, as we have seen in the case of the future Kadima Party and Kadima Party being dissolved, and its leader (former prime minister candidate Pita) being banned from participating in politics for a long time." He told The Paper.