Thai Court orders Ex-PM Yingluck to pay $300m over Rice subsidy scandal

A top Thai court on Thursday ordered former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to pay more than $300 million in compensation over a controversial rice subsidy programme implemented during her tenure.

The Supreme Administrative Court overturned a lower court’s earlier ruling that had canceled a finance ministry order demanding the payment. The latest judgement marks another chapter in a long-running legal battle linked to the rice scheme, which has already seen Yingluck sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for criminal negligence in 2017.

Yingluck, aunt to current Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was accused of ignoring corruption warnings from anti-graft agencies concerning the subsidy policy, which purchased rice from farmers at inflated rates, resulting in huge losses to the state.

While the finance ministry initially sought 35.7 billion baht (nearly $1.1 billion) in damages, the court on Thursday fixed the compensation at 10.028 billion baht (around $300 million), ruling that her negligence directly caused financial losses to the government.

Yingluck, who fled Thailand shortly before her conviction in 2017, has remained in exile. Her lawyer, Norawit Lalaeng, said legal consultations were ongoing to decide whether to seek a new hearing.