Dr Supawadee Mitsomwang yesterday said she was the one who had teased Paetongtarn Shinawatra, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's youngest daughter, but denied that she meant to hurt "Ung Ing".

She said she had heard reports about Paetongtarn quitting Chulalongkorn University during the vacation and she was surprised to see her on the first day of the new semester. "I just asked her 'Have you quit school? I cannot gossip about your father, then.' Ung Ing laughed and said, 'It's OK, I'll allow [you to]. It was just a chat between a student and a lecturer. I had no other intention,'' she said.

Supawadee said she lectured on the subject of social and cultural changes, so it was impossible for her not to mention government leaders during class.

"I still have to mention them, even if it's not Ung Ing's father. I need to demonstrate political analysis to the students. I also criticised the People's Alliance for Democracy. But I always avoid mentioning the name of the girl's father,'' she said.

Supawadee said the dean of the Political Science Faculty had set a policy that lecturers could discuss politics but not to put students at a disadvantage.

"I believe the girl jokingly told her father [about the conversation], but the prime minister spoke a half-truth and distorted the facts by saying that his daughter was bullied," Supawadee said. "I am not sure what the prime minister's objective is in mentioning this story now, when I have been talking about it for months. Or maybe he wanted to distort the facts because of the disappointing results of the local elections [for Thaksin's party, Thai Rak Thai]."

She said Thaksin should not have criticised the university as it was not fair to the other lecturers.

"He should have criticised me or written a letter to rebuke me directly. He should not have dragged the name of the institute into it," she said.

Supawadee said she felt sorry for Ung Ing because the girl had become a political victim. The academic said she did not want to take any action against Thaksin.

"Everyone knows this leader, that he is like that. I do not want to have anything to do with him or talk to him,'' Supawadee said.