Thailand's top court to deliver judgment on tycoon Thaksin dodging jail

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's Supreme Court will decide on Tuesday if former premier Thaksin Shinawatra should serve prison time that he skipped while in hospital detention, a high-profile ruling that could finally see Thailand's most influential tycoon jailed. His eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months, the entirety of which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital. Thaksin's entourage is facing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégée Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court 11 days ago - the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.