Former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, who is serving a 42-year jail term for fraudulent government-to-government rice sales, will be sent to Police General Hospital for surgery late this month.
Justice Minister ACM Prajin Juntong, said on Monday Boonsong, 58, suffered inflammation of a herniated disc and had to be sent to a bigger hospital as the facility of the Corrections Department lacked the equipment to treat it.
The cure, which involves physical therapy, will also take a long time, he said, adding if left untreated, the disease could lead to paresis or paralysis.
Pol Col Naras Savestanan, director-general of the Corrections Department, said the symptom was numbness in the arms and legs.
“He was sent to Police General Hospital several times, mostly as an outpatient. On one occasion, he was admitted for a few nights there,” he said.
Doctors are of the opinion he should undergo a surgery and scheduled it on Nov 27.
A Chiang Mai native, Boonsong was a well-known local businessman before he ran as MP and was elected multiple times under the Thaksin Shinawatra-led Thai Rak Thai party and its incarnations.
He was deputy finance minister in 2011 and commerce minister a year later.
He was convicted of malfeasance by the court for politicians for amending rice sale contract with a company which claimed to be a representative of the Chinese government. He was sentenced to 42 years in jail in August last year and has been detained at Klong Prem Central Prison in Chatuchak district, Bangkok.
