By Thai Newsroom Reporters
JUSTICE MINISTER Rutthapol Naowarat categorically denied today (May 26) that de facto Pheu Thai boss/parolee Thaksin Shinawatra could probably be in current condition which might otherwise warrant removal of his EM ankle bracelet at any given time before he completely becomes a free man in the next four months.
Rutthapol ruled out the probability of the former prime minister who had literally served an eight-month period behind bars at Klong Prem prison until he was released on parole earlier this month having his EM ankle bracelet removed upon request though he may manage to put off his scheduled visits to a Bangkok probation office on a monthly basis until he is completely freed in the upcoming September.
Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chartmontri has earlier confirmed his client had already postponed the reporting of himself to the probation office earlier scheduled for yesterday (May 25) until the upcoming Thursday with the EM bracelet still on his ankle.
As a rule observed by the Probation Department, the de facto Pheu Thai boss could otherwise have his EM bracelet removed on condition that he may be literally obliged to do a job for a living or an illness may inflict upon him or his domicile may exist without electricity or internet signals. According to the Bhumjaithai-attached justice minister, Thaksin has not fallen into any of those categories to otherwise warrant the removal of his EM bracelet.
Rutthapol was apparently responding to the latest speculation that Thaksin has quietly planned to ask for royal pardon to be preferably granted ahead of his freedom from a one-year jail sentence scheduled for September, thus literally ridding himself of such an embarrassing token of parole.
Thaksin has recently visited a Bangkok hospital for a physical checkup with the EM bracelet on his ankle but has not yet showed up at a public place anywhere since he was released on parole over the last couple of weeks, according to his lawyer.
He had been finally returned to prison at the order of the Supreme Court to serve his one-year sentence on counts of convicted misconduct perpetrated during his previous premiership over the last couple of decades after he had allegedly taken legal loopholes to avoid being literally put behind bars and instead to grant himself the contentious privileges of staying in a premium ward at Police Hospital for a six-month time during which he had allegedly staged a thinly-veiled fakeout as a “critically ill patient.”
CAPTIONS:
Top – De facto Pheu Thai boss/parolee Thaksin Shinawatra gives a wai as he arrives at his residency in a car after his release from Klong Prem Central Prison on May 11, 2026. Photo by Chanakarn LAOSARAKHAM / AFP and published by Manila Standard
Front Page – Thaksin Shinawatra greets supporters upon leaving Klong Prem prison. Photo – Thai News Pix published by BBC
Insert – Justice Minister Rutthapol Naowarat. Photo – Amarin TV
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