PUBLISHED : 28 Aug 2023 at 16:59
Paetongtarn “Ung Ing” Shinawatra, leader of the Pheu Thai Family, visited her father and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the Police General Hospital on Monday.
Thaksin, 74, was admitted to Bangkok Remand Prison on Aug 22 after landing at Don Mueang airport on a private jet, ending 15 years in self-exile, and being immediately taken to the Supreme Court, which jailed him for eight years on charges he was convicted of in absentia and sentenced.
He was transferred from Bangkok Remand Prison to the Police General Hospital at 12.20am on Wednesday, suffering from chest pain, hypertension and low blood oxygen, according to the Department of Corrections (DoC).
The DoC said Thaksin has four critical ailments – heart disease, lung disease, high blood pressure and a herniated disc.
After five days in quarantine, the hospital is allowing him visitors from 9am-3pm. Ten people registered to visit Thaksin on the first day. Ms Paetongtarn was the first to see him.
Ms Paetongtarn was accompanied by lawyer Winyat Chartmontree when she arrived at the hospital about 12.30pm in a Mercedes van. From the basement floor of the car park building she took an elevator to the 14th floor of the Maha Bhumibol Rachanusorn 88th Birthday Anniversary Building, where Thaksin is being cared for.
She began her visit about 1pm and left at 1.45pm without talking to reporters.
When asked about her father’s illness and his mental condition, Ms Paetongtarn did not reply. She said only that she would answer questions about her visit at Pheu Thai Party head office on Tuesday.
Other people who registered with the hospital to visit Thaksin on Monday included another daughter, Pintongta, and her husband Nathapong Kunawongkorn, and his eldest son Panthongtae and his wife Natthiya Puangkham. Three lawyers were also on the list of visitors.
Santhana Prayoonrat, a former special branch police officer who was at the hospital to see his father, said the rooms on the 14th floor were reserved for high-level police officers. His father had been admitted for treatment for lung inflammation on July 28 and was on the 10th floor of the same building, he said.
He believed Thaksin was in room 1401. He saw doctors and nurses in front of that room on Aug 23 when he went up the 14th floor to take a look.
Mr Santhana said the room had just been renovated and was fully equipped with such basic amenities as a bed, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. Every room on the 14th floor had a full view of the nearby golf course and horse racecourse, as reported by the media, he confirmed.