Sorayuth Suthassanachinda will climb back to the top five years after he was brought down for embezzlement.
The television news personality who commanded audiences of millions via Morning News was paroled last month after serving 14 months of an eight-year jail sentence for defrauding state-run MCOT of THB138 million (US$4.4 million). His return from the wilderness will begin as soon as May, when he returns to the Channel 3 show he stepped down from five years ago.
Sorayuth appeared in a sharp suit alongside four other anchormen – Kitti Singhapat, Donyakrit Dangwanpeesee, Pasit Apinyawat, Kanchai Kamnoedploy – in a dramatic video announcing his return.
#MorningNews has been a top-trending hashtag on Thai Twitter since this morning.
Through his daily broadcasts flanked by young women in coordinated outfits, Sorayuth played a role in shaping the national conversation. The case against him had dragged on for years until he fell out of favor with the junta that seized power in 2014 and was convicted in 2016. After Channel 3 dropped him under pressure, he took his act to Facebook Live, where he reported on news from around the country.
Sorayuth was paroled March 14 along with 500 other inmates. Although the 54-year-old former anchor may host news programs, he is forbidden to board any flights or leave Bangkok without permission, according to Witthawal Sunthornkachit, director of the probation department. Sorayuth was also tagged with an electronic-monitoring bracelet before he was freed.
In January 2020, Sorayuth went to jail after losing his final appeal before the Supreme Court, which sentenced him to serve eight years in prison for fleecing MCOT through a media marketing company.
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