Thaksin's son arrives at court

Panthongtae Shinawatra, right, arrives with his mother Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Bangkok on Monday morning. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
Panthongtae Shinawatra, right, arrives with his mother Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in Bangkok on Monday morning. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

Panthongtae Shinawatra, son of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, arrived at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Monday morning for judgement on money laundering charges related to a multi-billion-baht loan scandal 13 years ago.

Mr Panthongtae, 39, arrived at the court  about 9.30am with his mother Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra, his sisters Pinthongta and Paethongtan, and a group of supporters. The court was to begin reading its ruling at 10am.

On arrival, Mr Panthongtae commented briefly to reporters that he was slightly excited and remained confident.

Mr Panthongtae was accused of money-laundering because he had received a 10-million-baht cheque linked to illegitimately approved loans totalling 9.9 billion baht that Krungthai Bank (KTB), a state-run bank, extended to subsidiaries of real estate developer Krisdamahanakorn (KMC) between 2003 and 2004 while his father Thaksin Shinawatra was the prime minister.

Mr Panthongtae earlier told the court that the money came from his friend Ratchada Krisdathanon, who wanted to co-invest in his business plan, dating from 2004, to import luxury cars. Mr Ratchada is the son of KMC owner Wichai Krisdathanon.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court acquitted Thaksin of charges in connection with the same KTB loan scandal, ruling there was no proof presented that he was the "big boss" who had ordered KTB to approve the 9.9 billion baht in loans to KMC's affiliates.

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Vocabulary

  • acquittal: an official judgment in a court of law that someone is not guilty of the crime they were accused of - การตัดสินให้พ้นโทษ
  • affiliate: a company, an organisation, etc. that is connected with or controlled by another, larger one - บริษัทในเครือ, กิจการในเครือ, สาขา
  • cheque: a piece of printed paper that you can use instead of money to pay for things - เช็ค
  • confident: being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future - มั่นใจ
  • court: the place where legal trials take place and where crimes, etc. are judged - ศาล
  • luxury: the best and most expensive of something - ที่หรูหรา 
  • money-laundering (adj): hiding the origin of money obtained from illegal activities by putting it into legal businesses - การฟอกเงิน
  • ruling  (noun): a judgement; a decision by a court of law - คำตัดสิน คำชี้ขาด
  • slightly: small in size or amount - เล็กน้อย
  • subsidiary: a company that is owned by a larger company - บริษัทลูก
  • supporter (noun): a person who helps and supports a person, organization or idea - ผู้สนับสนุน

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