Former justice minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong, leader of the Prachachart party, has always been a loyalist and strong supporter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
He was “The One” who firmly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the doctors at the Police General Hospital and the Corrections Department, and key figures at the Corrections Department and Bangkok Remand Prison in facilitating Thaksin’s VIP stay at the 14th floor of the PGH for six months in lieu of his one-year prison term.
Pol Col Tawee’s unflinching loyalty toward Thaksin has made some critics wonder whether there is space left in his heart and mind for conscience to distinguish black from white.
But during the last few days before the departure of the Pheu Thai-led government, Pol Col Tawee did something untypical of a Thaksin loyalist. In a 12-page confidential letter dated Sept 23, stamped “top secret”, addressed to caretaker Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, he rejected Thaksin’s second petition for a royal pardon which was widely criticised as being inappropriate and not possible.
Surprisingly, in the letter, Pol Col Tawee inadvertently revealed some of the content of Thaksin’s latest petition to HM the King for a royal pardon which reads as follows: “I am very old now and suffering from health problems from old age. But I have to spend time in prison, making me suffer a lot, both physically and mentally. I don’t know I will have a chance to live a normal life outside of prison again. Now, I feel guilty of the wrongs that I did and will remember them for the rest of my life.”
Thaksin’s overly dramatic and hollow petition might have been penned by his lawyer. The petition was submitted only after he stepped into prison.
Can Thaksin be trusted this time? Does he actually feel guilty for the outcome of the 14th floor saga?
For sure, his loyal supporters and Pheu Thai die-hards will always believe him and give him unconditional support. These die-hard supporters even call him a hero for the mere fact that he was sent back to the prison by the Supreme Court after his false sickness was exposed by the Medical Council.
The question that now arises is whether Pol Col Tawee’s loyalty is still rock solid. For what it’s worth, his rejection of Thaksin’s petition for royal commutation could be interpreted as his final act in the previous government to distance himself from speculation that he might have a role behind-the-scenes in facilitating Thaksin’s VIP stay at the PGH.
As Thaksin walked into jail and those officials in the 14th floor saga started to bear the consequences, the big question mark in the minds of his doubters is: How could the bureaucrats such as the Corrections Department director-general dare to transfer Thaksin to the PGH with full knowledge that he was not seriously sick without someone higher up giving the signal to do so?
Karma is catching up with some culprits who helped arrange for Thaksin’s VIP stay at the PGH instead of the cell at Bangkok Remand Prison.
Last week, the PGH chief physician, Pol Lt-Gen Thaweesilp Wechwitarn, was transferred out of the hospital to an inactive post at the operations centre of the Royal Thai Police by the national police chief, Pol Gen Kittharath Punpetch, after his doctor’s licence was suspended for six months by the Medical Council for ethical misconduct.
It remains to be seen whether the Royal Thai Police will take disciplinary action and criminal litigation against the PGH chief doctor or not. Obviously, there are sufficient grounds to file charges of criminal malfeasance in office in accordance with Section 157 of the Criminal Code.
Meanwhile, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has been investigating 12 bureaucrats, including Shakarn Petnarin, director-general of the Corrections Department, for their alleged roles in helping Thaksin escape imprisonment.
As for Thaksin, it is unlikely that his appeal for a pardon will go through the Office of the Privy Council before reaching HM the King. Former justice minister Pol Col Tawee has already rejected his appeal and his successor, Pol Lt-Gen Rutthapon Naowarat, is likely follow in his footsteps even though he has set up a panel to look at the matter which is now considered so hot that no one in their right mind wants to touch.
Legal experts have maintained Thaksin had already sought a pardon and it was granted to him, with his eight-year prison term being commuted to just one year. But the imprisonment was not enforced by the Corrections Department through as ruled by the Supreme Court on Sept 9.
In other words, it is an old case and there is no moral or legal justification for a second pardon.
Thaksin’s lawyer and probably Thaksin himself, should have realised it. Yet they went ahead with the appeal anyway, without showing any sense of guilt and shame that the first pardon was already granted, and that Thaksin himself defied the pardon by resorting to trickery to dodge the one-year term which remained.
Seen in this context, his second appeal for a pardon is likely to go nowhere. Who else would dare to submit his appeal to the Office of Privy Council whose responsibility is to screen all matters to be sent to the King?
Even a Thaksin loyalist like Tawee Sodsong has taken a step back to save his own skin.
So, Thaksin’s predicament today is all of his own making. It would appear that karma has caught up with him and of course those other officials who were involved in the 14th floor saga.