Viraya: I would never do anything like that

"Sondhi of the People's Alliance for Democracy has always been critical and sarcastic toward me but I think he will eventually wear himself down," Viraya told reporters.

Sondhi told a press conference yesterday that anyone involved in the plot to kill him would be tortured by their own conscience for the rest of their lives regardless of what they said to the public.

Viraya reacted by saying she had never thought of hurting Sondhi. Although she knew a lot of people including high-ranking soldiers through her charity work, she was never an influential person, she said.

"Even if I was really his enemy, who am I to be able to do anything like that? But in reality, it's never been my idea to do anything like that," she said.

"I had come under ambush by insurgents before when I did my charity work in the South, so I know what it's like. When I heard about Khun Sondhi's attack, all I had was sympathy for him."

Viraya recently had come out to endorse fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra's loyalty toward the monarchy and that drew criticism from the PAD.

She said she inherited so large a fortune that she did not pay attention to what Sondhi said about her. The PAD had suggested she reaped some personal gain from selling royal shirts.

"I'm not angry with what was said about me. The King once reminded me that even the Buddha statue cannot escape people's gossiping," she said.

The government should ensure a speedy investigation into the Sondhi case, since the police report would clear her name, she said.

A friend had told her that Sondhi suspected a lady in high social circles of masterminding the assassination attempt, she said.

"I told my friend that Sondhi did not mean me but another lady who is still a courtier," she said, referring to her exit from serving in the Royal Palace.

Deputy National Police chief General Thani Somboonsap, who is the lead investigator in the Sondhi case, would have all the facts about key players in the case, she added.