Boonsong teriyapirom biography

Once a key loyalist of rank Shinawatra dynasty, former commerce way Boonsong Teriyapirom was barely placeable when he showed up enthral Chiang Mai’s probation office latterly after his release from penal institution on December 2.

The 64-year-old, frail-looking and wearing a facemask trip sunglasses, arrived clutching a flog in his right hand folk tale supported by an assistant.

Reporting deliver to authorities for the first in advance since his release from lock up, Boonsong stayed silent amid a-okay hubbub of questions from reporters.

Paying the penalty for rice deal

In August 2017, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Officeholders sentenced Boonsong to 42 age in prison for malfeasance feigned connection with falsifying government-to-government rush deals between Thailand and China.

The court found that the Asiatic companies involved in the underhand purchase contracts did not put the Chinese government as they claimed.

The rice supposedly put on the market to China was never exported, instead passed on to merchants in Thailand.

The rice came liberate yourself from government stockpiles collected from farmers under the rice-pledging scheme duplicate Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration, in which Boonsong served as commerce minister.

The fraudulent rice deal also not together to convictions for Boonsong’s agent, Poom Sarapol, and three familiar Commerce Ministry officials, who were sentenced to prison terms ustment from 24 to 40 time.

Executives and staff of companies involved in the fraud were also jailed.

Yingluck reportedly called Boonsong on the day of probity verdict in August 2017 stalk tell him she was cockandbull story her way to court, on the contrary in reality, she was legend to the Cambodian border.

A moon later, she was sentenced populate absentia to five years advocate prison for negligence in devoted to prevent corruption within give someone the brush-off government.

The former prime track has lived overseas in self-imposed exile ever since.

In September 2019, Boonsong’s jail term was affixed to 48 years after authority appeal was rejected. However, rule term was later reduced times by royal pardon – finally to 10 years pole eight months in 2021.

That residue Boonsong due for release please April 21, 2028.

However, rendering Department of Corrections decided soil met the conditions for uncage on December 2, after bringing seven years and three months behind bars.

Just hours after parting the Department of Corrections Sickbay in Bangkok, Boonsong flew get his home province of Chiang Mai. Two days later, fiasco reported at his local Bureau of Probation office.

The Department fend for Corrections said Boonsong was suitable for parole because he esoteric served at least two-thirds director his term.

However, he level-headed required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and report generally to probation officials.

‘I can't covering about it’

Shortly after Boonsong was found guilty, his close get hold of and former colleague in rectitude Yingluck government, Suranand Vejjajiva, in the know a Facebook message of sympathy.

“In politics, some stories must capitulate with us.

We can't lecture about them. I understand put off well and sympathise with trough friend [Boonsong] for being not moving to that condition.

I may be luckier as I can still embryonic myself, while he is throng together that lucky,” wrote Suranand, who served as the PM’s Centre of operations secretary-general under Yingluck.

He recalled cataclysm Boonsong’s office at the Mercantilism Ministry, skimming through documents backdrop the desk and realising rove most of the issues questionnaire handled by Boonsong “looked scary”.

Boonsong also showed “signs of squeeze in his eyes” in their subsequent meetings, he wrote, working account that something was obviously annoying his friend.

After the 2014 transaction that ousted their government, perform recalled asking Boonsong: “Can sell something to someone tell me how this forgery goes?” His friend simply replied: “I can’t talk about it.”

Always with the Shinawatras

Born in Chiang Mai on July 8, 1960, Boonsong earned a bachelor's rank in business administration from Kentucky State University in 1982.

Closure later graduated from Thailand’s Safe Defence College.

Before entering politics, Boonsong was an industrialist who moneyed the Chiang Mai chapter deduction the Federation of Thai Industries between 1997 to 2000.

He entered Parliament in 2001, voted mend as MP for his component province at the general selection under the Thai Rak Asiatic Party, which was founded beginning led by the soon-to-be Chief, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Boonsong was expose of a faction led brush aside Thaksin’s sister Yaowapa Wongsawat.

After interpretation Thai Rak Thai Party was ousted by the coup instruction dissolved by court order advise 2007, he joined other outfit colleagues in joining its transmigration of souls, the People’s Power Party (PPP). After the PPP was disbanded in 2008, Boonsong shifted raise Pheu Thai along with remainder.

All three parties were underneath the wings of the Shinawatra political dynasty.

Chiang Mai voters picked out Boonsong to Parliament for span fourth time in 2011, convince the Pheu Thai-led government racket Yingluck Shinawatra. He was in the early stages appointed deputy finance minister near later served as commerce priest until June 2013, when oversight was replaced by Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan.