Bangkok (The Nation/ANN) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that she had not done anything morally questionable while she was at a Bangkok hotel earlier this week.
"I did not have a meeting there. But as prime minister, I can meet anybody at a public place. It is not damaging," she said. "I am a woman, and I insist I did not do anything wrong."
When asked if she would take legal action against outspoken businessman Akeyuth Anchanbutr for suggesting that she may have been party to misconduct, Yingluck said: "I will be patient. I believe people will carefully consider what he says."
On Thursday, Akeyuth told the press that he happened to run into the prime minister while he was at the Four Seasons Hotel on Wednesday afternoon. He said that he had only seen the premier from a distance and 10 minutes after she left the premises he was attacked by a man.
"It could be because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something I should not have," he said.
Deputy government spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said yesterday that he was suspicious about Akeyuth's claim that someone from Yingluck's security detail had attacked him, adding that there was a "hidden agenda" behind this allegation.
At the press conference, Akeyuth described his alleged assailant as an armed officer in plainclothes. Akeyuth claimed that the man was about to draw a handgun before his bodyguards came to his rescue. He added that the assailant fled after his bodyguards intervened.
"The assailant knows and is close to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra," Akeyuth said, adding that he would not file a police complaint.
Anusorn said Akeyuth had "plotted a good story", adding that his decision against filing a police complaint aroused suspicion. "If the attack was not a set up, maybe he was attacked because many people dislike him," the spokesman said.
He also rejected Akeyuth's theory that the alleged assailant was a man in uniform.
Akeyuth, a businessman who runs the politically oriented website Thai Insider, is well known for his staunch criticism of Thaksin - Yingluck's older brother.
He has also recently said that Yingluck was unsuitable for the premier's post and has also made comments about her that could be considered sexist against women from the North.
Meanwhile, national police chief General Priewpan Damapong yesterday urged Akeyuth to file a police complaint so his case can be investigated and the authorities can obtain pertinent information such as the examination of his wounds.
Priewpan said he did not think the alleged attack had anything to do with the prime minister's security detail. "The prime minister is a woman, so I don't think she would allow the use of violence," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung also rejected the claim that someone in the PM's security team was involved in the attack, adding that Akeyuth should not have tried to link Yingluck to this matter or tried to politicise it.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called on the government to explain what happened in order to quell any suspicion that this matter has something to do with the premier.
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