Thailand’s parliament approves a broad amnesty covering activists from the past 20 years, excluding lese majeste and corruption cases.
BANGKOK: Thailand’s parliament passed an amnesty bill on Wednesday benefiting hundreds of activists found guilty over the last 20 years — but not those sentenced for corruption or violating the royal insult law.
The bill covers members of both the conservative, royalist “Yellow Shirts” and the “Red Shirts” who backed populist former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, rival groups who clashed over two decades.
While most have served their sentences, the amnesty lifts the bar on them holding political office, according to Yutthaporn Issarachai, an analyst from Sukhothai university.
It also covers youth protesters involved in the pro-democracy movement in 2020 and 2021.
Yutthaporn told AFP between 1,000 and 2,000 people could benefit, but there were some important exemptions.
“It is the country’s largest amnesty because it covers 20 years,” from January 1, 2005 to July 16, 2025, he said.
Yet it does not cover anyone convicted of breaching Thailand’s extremely strict lese majeste law, which shields the king and his family from criticism.
This means it will not benefit many leaders of the 2020-2021 youth-driven demonstrations calling for monarchy reform.
It will also not cover anyone convicted of corruption and therefore would not benefit Thaksin, who was released from prison in June following a royal pardon after serving eight months of a one-year sentence for corruption and abuse of power.
In addition, “this bill will not cover civil lawsuits, for example Yellow Shirts who were found guilty of closing the airports will still have to pay compensation for their actions”, Yutthaporn said.
The bill, which must still be approved by the king, will end trials of political activists not related to the excluded offences. However, Yutthaporn said most of them had already served their sentences.
“The bill does not mean to erase their guilt but will return their political rights,” he said.
Tech billionaire Thaksin was elected prime minister in 2001 and again in 2005, before going into exile after a 2006 military coup.
His Pheu Thai party, and its earlier iterations, was Thailand’s most successful political party of the 21st century, with the Shinawatra family producing four prime ministers and drawing widespread support from the rural masses.
The party, however, had its worst election result ever in February, slipping to third place, but was still included in the ruling coalition of conservative Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
