Bangkok, Aug 23 (EFE).- Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was admitted to hospital early Wednesday in Bangkok after spending about 12 hours in a prison in the capital where he was taken to serve a sentence following his return from exile.
Thailand’s corrections department reported in a statement that the 74 year old and an inmate in a hospitalized area of the Bangkok Remand prison since noon on Tuesday, began to feel unwell and a little after midnight was transferred to the Police Hospital.
Thaksin, who suffers from chronic diseases – including heart disease – experienced chest pressure, hypoxemia and hypertension, for which authorities opted for the transfer as a precautionary measure since the prison did not have the necessary medical equipment, the notice read.
Thaksin returned Tuesday morning to Thailand after being in self-imposed exile since 2008.
The politician, who ruled Thailand from 2001 until he was deposed by a military coup in 2006, began serving an eight-year prison sentence for three different convictions, of which he was tried in absentia and which he says were due to political persecution.
The corrections department said in Thursday’s letter that police are guarding the hospital room where the former leader is admitted.
The politician’s return coincided with a parliamentary session that elected former construction magnate Srettha Thavisin as prime minister and put an end to the political blockade the country had been experiencing since the May 14 elections.
Srettha was one of three candidates for the post put forward during the election by the Pheu Thai party, linked to the Shinawatra clan.
Pheu Thai, which came second in the elections, announced Monday an alliance with two formations linked to the military that carried out a coup in 2014 against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister. EFE
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