The court rejected the bail application on the grounds that the case carried heavy penalties and public prosecutors had objected to Akarakit’s temporary release.

The lawyer said Akarakit’s morale was still good as relatives visited him regularly.

Akarakit, whose wife is famous actress Napapa “Patt” Tantrakul, has been charged with laundering the ill-gotten gains of Nattapon Nakkham, an alleged member of a drug trafficking network led by Xaysana Keopimpha.

Akarakit, along with two others suspects – Sansern Rasanont, 25, and Angsuporn Inna, 29 – was charged with allegedly laundering drug money and conspiring to launder money as well as two offences under the Measures for Suppression of Narcotic Offenders Act of abetting drug-related offences and accepting assets in return.