Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following His Majesty...

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following His Majesty the King's comment in favour of harsh punishment for drug traffickers, said that there will be no more royal pardons in drug cases. He added that for many years requests for royal pardons had been automatic and were not something established by his government.
Kitti Limchaikij, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said under the existing rules, the Corrections Department was required to seek royal clemency for anyone sentenced to death, including drug convicts. Normally convicts' petitions to the king must be screened first by the Interior Ministry, Kitti said.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej recently refused to pardon death-row inmate Wichian Saenmahayak.
The Interior Minister's Secretary Pumitham Vejayachai said Wichian had not appealed his death sentence, which meant that he had had 60 days to ask for a royal pardon. "It wasn't a mistake, since I advised against a royal pardon," he said.The petition was rejected on April 4, and the execution took place nine days later.
Another five death-row inmates found guilty of possession of more than 100,000 methamphetamine tablets are scheduled to be executed before the end of the year.