The former Thai prime minister, Taxin
Shinawat, has been cleared of violating
strict laws against insulting the
monarchy by a court in the capital,
Bangkok. The 76-year-old was facing up
to 15 years in prison if found guilty of
breaching the country's strict laws that
criminalize almost any criticism of the
Thai royal family, but which critics say
are often used to target activists and
political opponents. Our Southeast Asia
correspondent Jonathan Hed told me about
the background of this case. Les Majesty
cases are always problematic. They're
usually held uh in secret. We often
don't know the full facts. This was a
little unusual in that the uh judges
actually explained their ruling in some
detail and did treat the wording of the
law quite literally. It only covers the
four top members of the monarchy, the
king, queen, um heir and any regent.
Now, Mr. Taxton is a very controversial
figure. Um no question. He's he's sort
of dominated Thai politics for 25 years.
He was in exile for a long time. He was
ousted by a coup. He had other criminal
charges against him, but he was allowed
to come back two years ago. He said
there was no deal, but the presumption
was there was a deal. His party was one
of the larger parties after the last
election. He was his party was allowed
to form a government. Um his daughter is
the current prime minister, although
she's currently suspended. But the idea
was that Mr. Taxin would it was assumed
take a much lower profile. But that
isn't him. He's always been a very
flamboyant, outspoken figure. He's very
wealthy. And this Les Majesty charge,
which was originally drawn up nine years
ago, was reactivated a year ago. And
most people assumed that it was being
used in some way that it was a way of
handcuffing him, of limiting him, having
this charge hanging over him. Either
way, the verdict has gone in his favor.
Um, he could have spent up to 15 years
in prison. Um the judges were very
literal in their reasoning. But he still
faces one more criminal investigation
into how he managed to avoid uh spending
any time in prison when he had to face a
sentence after coming back from exile.
He managed to spend it in a prison
hospital. And his daughter Peton will
find out whether she remains prime
minister in a ruling next week because
she's been suspended over a leaked
conversation she had with the Cambodian
strongman. This is to do with the Thai
Cambodian border war. So the Shinawat
family are still a very big feature in
Thai life, but they're controversial and
these legal cases are seen very much in
that light that they are their
challenges to the family and its
political prominence.
>> And you you mentioned that tax doesn't
tend to kind of uh keep a low profile.
Given that you said that there's still
some cases against the family, what do
you think he'll do next?
>> Look, he I think I honestly think having
watched him for 25 years, he's incapable
of keeping a low profile. It's just him.
He's a very natural politician. He's a
good communicator. He's very ambitious.
He's got great self-belief that he's got
the answers to his country's problems.
He certainly rubs a lot of people up the
wrong way. He's got a lot of enemies
here in the particularly in the
conservative royalist circles. So, I
don't think he's going to be quiet, but
I think there will be talking behind the
scenes going on about what his future
is, what the future of his party is.
His, you know, his al those parties in
government, it's an uneasy coalition.
They've not performed very well
economically. the Cambodian border war
has not made them look good. Um, I think
there may be some discussion about
whether there shouldn't be some
political changes at the top,
particularly if his daughter is stripped
of the prime ministership. But I think
even if that doesn't happen, the
Shinowat family for all of their
prominence are no longer as powerful as
they used to be. And I think we will see
quite a lot of movement in who runs Thai
politics. Mr. Taxim will be there very
visible as always but I think these days
as a 76 year old man he just isn't the
powerful figure he used to be.