19 November 2025 — A 15-year saga has come to a close since the court ordered the seizure of assets belonging to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The original judgment dated 26 February 2010 followed the sale of all shares of Shin Corporation Public Company Limited to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings on 23 January 2006 — a disposal of 1,487,740,120 shares (49.6%) at ฿49.25 per share, producing a total transaction value of ฿73,271 million.
Although Thai tax law exempts capital gains on sales of shares on the stock market by individuals, the wholesale sale raised significant public suspicion because ownership of the shares had been transferred among members of the Shinawatra family prior to the Temasek purchase.
Price difference between market price and actual price paid
Major sellers included Pinthongta Shinawatra (604 million shares, valued at ฿29,776.55 million), Bannapong Damapong (404.43 million shares, ฿19,918.19 million), Panthongtae Shinawatra (458.55 million shares, ฿22,584 million), Yingluck Shinawatra (20 million shares, ฿985 million), and Bussaba Damapong (159,600 shares, ฿7.86 million).
In short, shares were transferred via nominees to Pinthongta and Panthongtae (Thaksin’s children). They acquired Shin Corp shares from Ample Rich Investment Co., Ltd. at only ฿1 per share, a price far below market value. The resulting disparity between market price and the actual price paid meant that funds transferred from Ample Rich constituted income subject to tax under Section 39 of the Revenue Code.
Timeline of the Shin Corp tax case
On 28 March 2017, the Revenue Department issued a tax assessment requiring Thaksin to pay personal income tax plus penalties and surcharges totaling ฿17,600 million. Thaksin’s legal team appealed to the Central Tax Court and the Court of Appeal for Specialized Cases.
Those lower courts later annulled the Revenue Department’s assessment, reasoning that the summons procedure was legally defective — specifically that the Revenue Department had not issued a tax summons to Thaksin as the principal taxpayer within the required timeframe — and thus Thaksin won at the trial and appellate levels.
However, on 17 November 2025 the Supreme Court (Court of Final Instance) overturned the earlier decisions by the tax courts. The Supreme Court found that the Revenue Department’s tax assessment was lawful. The ruling established important precedents by examining the intent and the substance of the transactions, concluding:
- Real beneficiary of the income: Although the shares were sold by children or nominee companies, the evidence shows Thaksin was the true recipient of the income.
- Concealment of transactions: The use of nominees and foreign companies served to evade rules limiting shareholding by political officeholders and to “avoid income tax.”
- Tax morality principle: The Court found the transactions lacked tax morality and were illegal in substance; therefore they were not eligible for the ordinary tax exemption that applies to public market share sales.
As a result, the Revenue Department now has full authority to enforce the judgment and collect the assessed tax, penalties, and surcharges totaling ฿17,600 million (฿17.6 billion). It is expected the department may issue enforcement orders within a short period (the original report estimated 1–2 months to issue enforcement notices).
According to Forbes, in 2024 Thaksin Shinawatra remained listed among the world’s top 10 billionaires in the finance and investment category, with a net worth of US$2.1 billion (approximately ฿77 billion). If the tax of ฿17.6 billion must be paid, that would equal about 24% of that reported wealth, and analysts have assessed that Thaksin would likely still be able to marshal funds to settle the tax debt.
Currently, the former prime minister remains detained at Klong Prem Central Prison. There is also an outstanding lèse-majesté (Section 112) case pending; on 17 November 2025 the Attorney-General filed an appeal asking the Court of Appeal to take up that matter, which may affect prospects for parole.