BANGKOK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan did not meet with former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra during his recent visit to Britain, Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanich said on Saturday.
During his visit to Britain last Wednesday and Thursday, Prawit had not met with Thaksin anywhere in that country as rumored in some Thai media, said the defense spokesman, who accompanied the defense minister to Britain.
''What would (Prawit) meet with Thaksin for? Both being in Britain did not necessarily mean they may have met over there. There was no reason for either one to meet with the other."
''The Britain visit (by Prawit) was irrelevant to former premier Yingluck (Shinawatra) allegedly seeking refuge or any deal to be done in that country,'' the spokesman said.
Yingluck has failed to appear in court to hear a final verdict on a criminal lawsuit filed against her and pertaining to a previous government's rice subsidy program.
She was said to have slipped out of the country with the help of some unknown persons and finally found her way to Dubai where her brother Thaksin had been residing in self-exile nearly a decade ago.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to read out the verdict in the likelihood of an absent Yingluck on Sept. 27.
Maj. Gen. Kongcheep said Prawit's schedules set by the Ministry of Defense for his two-day visit to Britain were so tight that he had no spare time to spend.
The Thai defense minister met with his British counterpart Sir Michael Fallon and British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field to discuss defense and international security issues.
