Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn has reduced former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s eight-year prison sentence to one year, according to the royal gazette on Friday.
“Thaksin accepted his crime and showed remorse,” the letter claimed, adding that the former prime minister was ill and that the royal pardon was granted so that Shinawatra may leverage his expertise and experiences to benefit citizens and the country.
After more than 15 years in self-exile, Thailand’s ousted former prime leader came home for the first time on August 21. On August 31, his family submitted a request for a royal pardon to caretaker justice minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.
