Prisoner amnesty

It seems that the December 5 pardons (with no amnesty) have been issued, and not appearing amongst the 26,000 names is one T. Shinawatra.

Maybe Prem still has some sway where it counts.

May be he is listed under another name, now I wonder what name he will use on his nice new passport?

Well this charade has finally come to an end with the release of the affected inmates yesterday , 286 from Udon jail alone. If I may summarise some of the shenanigans a bit to the best of my knowledge. When I first posted back in October, the word on the street was "amnesty"which I used in the topic heading. This meant Mr T would have been able to benefit as his crime was annulled, so no time in detention was needed, but as I pointed out this was a far cry from the normal "pardon" normally granted by His Majesty, with far reaching repercussions for the entire justice system. Gradually over the months the word being used changed from amnesty to pardon .Now a pardon rewards the convicted for his shown desire to make amends both to the victims of his crime and the state . It stands to reason that this cannot be achieved unless he has spent time in an institution of correction .This is a normal requirement in the annual pardon granted by HM and of course wouldn't be any benefit to Mr T. Thankfully someone up there has realised the major implications of an amnesty, not only for the present but for future prosecutions and advised His Majesty accordingly .
So sorry Mr T . You did the crime you must do the time .
A further point to consider. An amnesty meaning the crime was null ed would permit a person to still qualify for public service. A pardon for a crime committed would not .

I doubt we've heard the last from Mr. T. Worse men than him have fled the country, only to return years later, shave their heads, enter the temple for a stint, then all's forgiven/forgotten.

Bandung_Dero wrote:This poses a question, does a pardon have the same consequences as what we would term a parole. If the recipient of a pardon commits another crime does he/she have to serve out the quashed jail term before starting on the new sentence?

And as for the 3 year thingy, there have been many documented cases of Farang being released early under the 'Pardon' scheme while serving out very long prison terms, mainly drug related. And deported, YES, I'm not talking about those sent home to serve out the remainder of the sentence under the prisoner exchange treaties.

Well two things there BD. Yes basically the same as the parole scheme in UK and presumably Auss.In the UK any prisoner sentenced to less than 4 years is automatically released on parole at the half way point, unless he has continued to be bad in jail .Those serving over 4 years are subject to a probation review at halfway and may be released if they are not considered to be at risk of re offending .If not released they will be reassessed every 6 months until they have completed 75% of sentence. Then normally they will be let out unless the original trial judge has recommended a minimum time to serve . Any way early release is not a pardon and if you re offend during the remainder of your sentence time, your remaining period will be added back to any new sentence imposed .
The second part of your post. Yes many foreigners get released and deported early, normally where the sentence term they were given in Thailand exceeds the punishment for a similar crime in their home country .
In Thailand the pardon completes the sentence period and can not be reimposed. In the event of re offending though the judge will take into account his apparent lack of remorse and impose a harsher sentence because of it .