Deputy Prime Minister and Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Gen Prawit Wongsuwon on Friday denied he had met deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinnawatra during a recent trip abroad.
Gen Prawit said he did not go to the United Kingdom and did not meet Thaksin. He said he had a check-up during the Songkran break and was declared fit to work.
"What would I meet him for?" he asked when quizzed about the rumour.
Nirote Sunthornlekha, the ruling party's MP for Nakhon Sawan, said on Thursday that Gen Prawit told him Thaksin had relayed his best regards when Mr Nirote asked the PPRP leader about the rumour.
When asked to confirm this later, however, Mr Nirote said Gen Prawit was just pulling a prank on him.
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, a PPRP deputy leader, said yesterday he had told Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and that the media should have known that Mr Nirote was simply relaying Gen Prawit's joke.