On May 22, Norawit Lalaeng, lawyer for former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, posted on Facebook that he plans to request a retrial at the Administrative Court regarding the recent Supreme Administrative Court ruling. The court ordered Yingluck to pay 10.028 billion baht in damages for negligence in the government-to-government (G2G) rice sales during the rice pledging scheme.
Norawit emphasized that both the Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court had agreed Yingluck was not liable for overall losses from the 2012–2013 rice pledging programs, as her actions did not amount to gross negligence. However, the Supreme Court introduced a new element — accountability for damages from G2G rice sales, which was not originally cited in the Ministry of Finance’s order in 2016 (Order 1351/2559).
He questioned whether this ruling exceeded the original complaint, as the G2G fraud was not listed as a cause in the ministry’s order. Furthermore, Yingluck was not a defendant in any criminal cases involving the G2G fraud.
Norawit also noted that at the time of the 2014 coup, 18.9 million tons of rice remained in storage. According to the order, if the rice could later be sold at higher-than-estimated prices, the income could offset Yingluck’s liability. He stated that under the current government, the rice was recently sold for over 140 billion baht, which could eliminate the need for compensation.
Since this is considered new evidence, Norawit will file a petition within 90 days under Section 75 of the Administrative Court Procedure Act, seeking a re-evaluation or retrial to potentially nullify the compensation order and ensure fairness for Yingluck.