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National police chief Priewpan Damapong on Friday denied having met with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Hong Kong earlier this week to wish him happy birthday.
Pol Gen Priewpan admitted he had gone to Hong Kong but said he did not meet Mr Thaksin, his former brother-in-law who turned 63 on Thursday, or send him any birthday wishes.
Photo by Surapol Promsaka na Sakolnakorn
He claimed he had gone to Hong Kong to handle some "bureaucratic affairs" and did not talk to the fugitive ex-premier at all.
Reports said that Pol Gen Priewpan left for Hong Kong from Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday morning to extend his birthday wishes to Thaksin. He reportedly took leave from duty on Tuesday to make the trip.
Pol Gen Priewpan told reporters at the time that he had only accepted Thaksin's invitation and they had no special issues to discuss.
The move prompted anti-Thaksin critics to say that he would either be breaching the law or seriously violating professional ethics if he failed to arrest the former leader in his capactity as national police chief.
Mr Thaksin was convicted in 2008 of abusing his office to help his former wife buy public land at an auction and sentenced to two years in jail. He had already fled Thailand by that time, in violation of his bail terms, claiming he could not get a fair trial.
Pol Gen Priewpan also said his opinions on certain subjects didn't match those of Mr Thaksin, adding that the latter may have not liked him. http://www.bangko...et-thaksin