Nitya was referring to Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo's comment last week that his government was confident its strained relations with Bangkok would "get back on track" as the ties are "deeply rooted" and the countries shared common interests.

"We are assessing the situation, but we welcome Yeo's comments which signal they want to mend the relationship," Nitya said, describing contacts between the two countries as still active at a certain level.

Nitya was speaking with Nation Group group editor Thepchai Yong in "Siam This Morning" on Channel 5 yesterday.

Thepchai referred to Thaksin's hiring of a US lobby firm, saying many people were concerned it could influence the US government to act in favour of Thaksin.

Nitya said he did not believe that using the firm would help Thaksin's efforts to cause a negative impact.

"I believe that the US was basing its evaluation on Thailand through its own sources. It isn't true that it would believe the information from a lobbyist," the former ambassador to Washington DC and New York said.