After lying low and staying out of sight -- presumably to lick the wounds inflicted by the Medical Council of Thailand (MCT)'s ground-shaking ruling on May 8 regarding his controversial stay at the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital -- former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra re-entered the public foray on May 27 with a vengeance.
Thaksin -- whose term in power was tainted with a bloody war on drugs -- was invited to give a talk on narcotics to senior police at the Office of the Narcotics Control Board. This was done in his capacity as an adviser to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chair of Asean. The invitation was extended by Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong, a staunch Thaksin supporter.
Apparently, the event was choreographed to give the former prime minister an opportunity to refute the widespread rumour that he had skipped out of the country ahead of a hearing set on June 13 by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The much-anticipated probe aims to find out if its eight-year jail term imposed on Thaksin, reduced to one year by a royal pardon, was fairly enforced by the Corrections Department before his release.
Therefore, the talk on narcotics was just a sideshow. During the event, Thaksin floated a radical idea, typical of his iron-fisted approach towards drugs.
He said if the Myanmar junta failed to crack down on drug labs near the Thai border area in Myanmar, which is currently being held by the United Wa State Army, an ally of the Myanmar junta, Thailand should take the matter into its own hands by launching incursions to destroy those labs.
He also took the opportunity to vent his frustration at the MCT, questioning its ethics over a leaked Line group post about a council member suggesting Thaksin should be taught a lesson. Thaksin, who was convicted of felonies and even ran away to evade a jail term, even had the gall to say the MCT itself appeared to have ethical problems.
For a man like Thaksin to accuse respectable members of the MCT in such a way will make quite a few fair-minded people frown in disbelief.
Yet what really frustrates Thaksin is not the Line group post, but the council's courage to speak the truth about his actual health condition during his stay at the PGH, as other organisations chose to remain silent for whatever reason.
That was indeed a praiseworthy act on the part of the council. Leaving the character assassination in the leaked Line group aside, the evidence the council adopted in making its decisions will certainly be acknowledged by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.
In delivering a resolution to discipline senior doctors, the council ruled there was no "empirical evidence" to prove Thaksin was in a critical state of health, and that false information was provided regarding his health condition.
That small-but-significant statement from the council constitutes a big slap on the faces of Thaksin's cronies who persistently said he was suffering from several life-threatening diseases that required him to be transferred from the Corrections Department's hospital to the PGH for treatment for up to six months without spending a day in prison to serve his one-year jail term.
Let us not forget that the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Health as well as the Police General Hospital have stonewalled any attempt to access medical information to find out Thaksin's true health condition. Even the National Human Rights Commission's formal demand to visit Thaksin or inspect the patient room on the 14th floor of the Police General Hospital was denied by the PGH.
So, the Medical Council of Thailand's probe outcome is perceived as a game changer. And as such the lack of "empirical evidence" on Thaksin's life-threatening condition could be used by the Supreme Court in its hearing to prove Thaksin was not sick enough to be treated at the PGH.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin on Thursday vetoed the council's decision to discipline three doctors. Two had been temporarily suspended from medical practice while the third had been given a warning. He insisted the doctors did not breach any medical ethics.
However, his rejection of the council's resolution to discipline the doctors will not change the council's verdict that there was no empirical evidence to prove that Thaksin's health was in a critical state. In other words, claims of Thaksin suffering a life-threatening condition might be lies.
More and more doctors are now rallying in support of the MCT to protect its reputation in what appears to be a showdown between the medical community and the political force, led by Thaksin and his cronies. This is a rare phenomenon worthy to be recorded in modern Thai history.
This confrontation is likely to intensify if the apparent campaign to discredit the council by Thaksin's cohorts continues.
On June 12, the council is expected to announce a decision on whether to overturn Mr Somsak's veto and uphold its resolution to discipline the doctors, if it can muster the votes of 47 of the 70 council members.
Coincidentally, the timing of the council's meeting is close to the June 13 first hearing of the court.
It will be a nerve-wracking experience for Thaksin if the council succeeds in overturning Mr Somsak's veto.
"Truth may be covered up, but it never dies" as one proverb goes.
