The House committee on police affairs plans to visit Police General Hospital next month to see if former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is really there, says the committee chairman.
Chaichana Dejdecho, a Democrat MP, said committee members wanted proof after failing to receive a clear answer about Thaksin’s prolonged stay from representatives of the hospital and the Department of Corrections on Thursday.
Panel members plan to visit the hospital sometime before National Children’s Day on Jan 13, he said.
Dec 21 will mark 120 days since Thaksin was transferred to the hospital, only hours after entering prison. By law, the minister of justice must personally approve any stay exceeding 120 days by an inmate receiving medical treatment outside a prison hospital.
Mr Chaichana said members of his committee were unhappy with the responses they received to several questions they asked prison and hospital officials about perceived favouritism shown towards Thaksin.
They asked why he was not transported in a prison vehicle to the hospital, why he was not quarantined in prison for 10 days like other inmates but was moved to the hospital right away, why he was moved to Police General Hospital instead of another hospital, and why his hair was not cut like other inmates.
“Thai society can only progress on condition that it is free of inequality,” Mr Chaichana said.
He also had questions about a new ministerial regulation written in 2020 to allow some inmates to serve their sentences outside prison, ostensibly to help alleviate overcrowding. He said the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration had shelved the rule but the current Srettha Thavisin government has revived it.
The Department of Corrections this week denied that the rule was intended to benefit anyone in particular, such as Thaksin. But Mr Chaichana said he would ask Prime Minister Srettha in parliament to assure the public that this was true.
A doctor told the House committee on Thursday that Thaksin, 74, had hypertension, narrowed blood vessels and hepatitis B. He has had two surgical procedures for undisclosed conditions since his hospital admission. Officials have declined to elaborate, citing patient confidentiality.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter and leader of the coalition-core Pheu Thai Party, said on Thursday she had no idea if the new detention regulation could apply to her father.
She said she hoped her father would soon be freed and healthy enough to use his capabilities and experience to support national development.
Thaksin returned to the country on Aug 22 after more than 15 years of self-exile abroad. He was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison in three cases — later reduced to one year under a royal pardon — for abuse of authority and conflict of interest while serving as premier prior to 2006.
He was admitted to Police General Hospital on the night of Aug 22, 13 hours after he first entered prison.
The Royal Thai Police and the Department of Corrections have denied giving the convict any privileged treatment.