By Devjyot Ghoshal and Panu Wongcha-um

BANGKOK (Reuters) – A smiling Thaksin Shinawatra arrived at Thailand’s Supreme Court on Tuesday morning in his black and silver Mercedes Maybach luxury sedan, dressed in a dark suit and a yellow tie.

But the former Thai prime minister left the court complex bereft of the trappings of power, escorted into a plain silver van by Corrections Department officials, the collar of his white shirt unbuttoned and cuffs folded up.

After nearly two decades of dodging punishment, Thailand’s most influential and polarising politician must now serve a prison term – the country’s first ex-premier to face jail.

“I humbly accept and am ready to enter the (judicial) process after today’s verdict,” Thaksin said in a statement, soon after judges read out their decisio

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