Unofficial Translation

Miss Yingluck Shinawatra

28th Prime Minister of Thailand

23 January 2015

As expected, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has voted to impeach me from the position of Prime Minister of Thailand and in effect, banning me from politics for the next five years. Shortly before the vote took place, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) also announced that it will file criminal charges against me to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Position. I would like to make the following statement on these issues;

I would like to reaffirm that I am innocent.  I would like to thank the minority that voted against the impeachment. I praise you for your strength in upholding the principle of justice. Despite the fact that the process to impeach me was rushed and due process was ignored to the extent it stripped me my basic rights which every Thai citizen is entitled to, I believed that I did my best to present my case.

I insist that the Rice Pledging Scheme is beneficial for the farmers and the country, and the scheme did not incur losses as alleged. Any figures on the losses from the scheme have all been manipulated with bias towards me and with a hidden agenda used to eliminate a political opponent. Worst of all, the rice farmers’ lives have become a political tool.

​On the 29 April 2013 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, I had this to say about democracy in Thailand “I would like to see reconciliation and democracy gaining strength in Thailand. For this to happen, justice and rule of law must return.  Only then, Thai citizens can have the confidence that all individuals will be treated in a fair and equitable manner”.

My beliefs expressed above remains true.  Even as Thai democracy is dead and the rule of law destroyed, anti-democratic forces still remain prevalent as a destructive force, as evident from what I am experiencing. 

It is regrettable that the many so called coincidences that I spoke of yesterday happened once again today. Just an hour before the NLA vote on impeachment, the Office of the Attorney General decided to file criminal charges against me for negligence of duty. This is in conflict with the comments made by the head of prosecuting team that there is not yet enough probable cause. The Office of the Attorney General is an institution that has long played a key role in ensuring justice. Yet their actions on this issue are deemed to be questionable.

Throughout the period of 2 years 9 months and 2 days as Prime Minister, I performed my duties with utmost devotion and with sincere intentions to alleviate problems of Thais in an equitable manner. I am proud that I had the chance to help support the rice farmers and poor to have the chance of better lives.

I now no longer hold any political positions, only left with the task of fighting the criminal charges in court, a case that was wrongly forced upon me.

​Reconciliation can only happen when justice is equal for all. It will not be achieved through continuing to hunt down a particular individual. Equal under the law will bring about justice.  Peace and order will follow.

Because we are all Thais, what we should be doing is to engage in a dialogue on how to make this country prosperous again and not to incite hatred towards one another till one does not have a place to stand. Ultimately, it is our nation that will suffer.

I am not sad because I am the victim of this entire ordeal, but I am sad for the rice farmers and all of the disadvantaged Thai citizens whose lives will return to the vicious cycle of being poor, debt ridden, and being taken advantage of, and most important of all, being denied of their basic democratic rights under the rule of law.

​I can only hope that Assembly Members will not allow any individual or group that are essentially anti-democratic, without beliefs in the principles of democracy, the rule of law and due process; to continue to influence their decisions in the future. An academic once said that “If there is no Yingluck, all Thais can still survive”, but what is more important is that “if there is no justice in Thailand, no one can survive.”

​I reiterate my commitment to continue to fight to prove my innocence to the very end, no matter what the outcome will be. And I will always stand side by side with all Thais. I will not stop until democracy, justice and prosperity return to Thailand.