The Medical Council of Thailand has said it plans to suspend two doctors and issue a warning to a third after concluding that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was not critically ill, which had been cited as the reason for him to serve his prison sentence in a hospital.
The plan will need approval from the public health minister.
The public health minister is Somsak Thepsutin of the Pheu Thai Party led by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter.
The three doctors worked at the Correctional Hospital and Police General Hospital.
The doctor who will receive the warning failed to meet medical professional standards concerning a referral notice. The two other doctors issued documents that contained false medical information. All three are orthopedic specialists.
Thaksin returned to the country on Aug 22, 2023, after 15 years in self-imposed exile.
On that day, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for abuse of power and conflict of interest while prime minister. The sentence was later reduced to one year by royal clemency.
On his first night at prison, doctors said that he should be transferred to Police General Hospital, where he stayed until granted parole in February 2024.
