BANGKOK: A top Thai court on Thursday ruled that former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra must pay more than US$300 million in compensation over a controversial rice subsidy scheme during her time in office.
The ruling is the latest round in a long-running legal battle over the rice scheme that has already seen Yingluck, aunt of current Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, given a prison sentence in absentia.
The Supreme Administrative Court overturned on Thursday a lower court ruling cancelling a finance ministry order that Yingluck pay compensation over the scheme.
Yingluck, who was ousted in a military coup in 2014, was sentenced in absentia in 2017 to five years in jail for criminal negligence over the same scandal.
The finance ministry originally ordered Yingluck to pay 35.7 billion baht (nearly US $1.1 billion) in compensation.
The Central Administrative Court then revoked the order, but the ministry appealed, leading to Thursdays ruling by the higher court.
The court said on Thursday that Yingluck had failed to respond to warnings by anti-graft bodies pointing to corruption in the rice scheme.
Her negligence caused losses to the finance ministry and she should pay damages of 10.028 billion baht (US$300 million), the court said.
Norawit Lalaeng, Yinglucks lawyer, said they will discuss whether to request a new hearing.
Yingluck fled Thailand shortly before her jail sentence in 2017 and has lived in exile since.
