Video clips of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra doing exercise recently went viral. Images showed Thaksin vigorously punching and kicking a training bag, and he was also filmed lifting dumbbells and in a swimming pool. The scenes were presumably recorded some time ago during his self-exile overseas.
These pictures would certainly be up to the mark if used to encourage senior citizens to stay active and exercise more. They have also raised doubts as to whether doctors at the Department of Corrections acted appropriately in moving him to the Police General Hospital. The former PM was imprisoned on Tuesday following his return to Thailand after running away over 15 years ago from court verdicts against him.
Twelve hours after being put in prison, the department cleared a flash transfer to the Police General Hospital after Thaksin reportedly developed breathing difficulties and elevated blood pressure. Department doctors also agreed that he has a number of serious health problems that Bangkok Remand Hospital does not have the capacity to handle.
Such a practice is not against the law, and indeed many old inmates in poor health have been transferred to state hospitals. Critics have asked whether the former PM may get special treatment while public doubts have grown. On Wednesday, firebrand Srisuwan Janya launched complaints with the National Anti-Corruption Commission against the Corrections Department.
Make no mistake, Thaksin remains popular, and his custody requires special handling and maximum security, not to mention appropriate health care. Yet, the Justice Ministry needs to find an acceptable way of treating him that does not create a perception that the former PM is a VIP inmate allowed to rise above justice and the law. Any display of double standards will worsen the credibility of the Thai justice system.
Indeed, the question raised by Thaksin's move away from the bounds of his prison cell is just one of the many asked concerning the treatment of VIP inmates -- most of whom are politicians, high-ranking officials and wealthy people. It is an open secret that many elderly political inmates serve their jail terms in a remand hospital or state hospitals instead of with cellmates. While medical transfers are not against the law, they do prompt the wider question of whether doctors apply the same standards to other elderly inmates who also need swift and effective medical services.
A glaring example is Ampon "Ah Gong" Tangnoppakul, who had been sentenced to a 20-year jail term on lese majeste charges but died of cancer at the age of 71 after serving just two years at Bangkok Remand Prison in 2012. His relatives claimed that the medical services provided and health assistance in general for older inmates were far too slow.
The "Ah Gong" case does not stand alone. Angkhana Neelapaijit, the former rights commissioner, recently said many prisoners held in southern prisons on national security charges suffer health problems but are rarely referred to remand hospitals fast enough, while many frail-health inmates have been left to stay in crowded, unhealthy prison cells.
The case of former PM Thaksin raises a challenge for the Thai justice system. Apart from convincing the public that he is being treated appropriately, the Corrections Department needs to improve medical services by speeding up the transferral process for older or sick patients. Failure to improve the system for all inmates, particularly older ones, will only increase the perception that prison is only for the poor.
