Thailand’s Supreme Court on Friday said it would seek permission for an arrest warrant for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after she failed to show up to hear the court’s verdict in a negligence case against her.
The court set a new date of September 27 for the verdict. The court said Yingluck, who had pleaded not guilty in the case focused on a rice subsidy scheme for farmers, had told the court she could not attend due as she was suffering from an ear problem.
“We don’t think that the defendant is ill. We think that the defendant is hiding or has fled ... We have pushed back the verdict date to September 27,” a statement from a Supreme Court judge said. “She asked for sick leave not to show up today.”
A spokeswoman for Yingluck, who was ousted by a military coup in 2014, declined to comment.
A rice subsidy program – a flagship policy of Yingluck’s administration – saw her government buy farmers’ crops at prices up to 50% higher than market prices. The policy was popular with farmers but left Thailand with huge rice stockpiles and caused $8 billion in losses.In the northeastern province Khon Kaen, a Shinawatra stronghold, a leader of the red shirt political movement that supports Yingluck said her supporters felt frustrated.
Before giving a verdict in Yingluck’s case, the court will rule in the case of Yingluck’s former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom who is accused of falsifying government-to-government rice deals between Thailand and China in 2013.
The Shinawatra family has dominated Thai politics for more than 15 years and their parties have won every general election since 2001, but it is at the heart of a bitter and bloody power struggle in Thailand.
Yingluck’s brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted in a 2006 coup. Supporters of the Shinawatras accuse the ruling generals of political persecution.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
