The prime minister yesterday shrugged off fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's claim he planned to return to Thailand later this year.
Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government would not stop Thaksin from entering the country, but, as a fugitive, the former leader must first come under the judicial process.
"There is no problem. He is not prohibited from entering the country. … After his entry, he will have to come under Thai law," the PM said.
In 2008, the Supreme Court sentenced Thaksin - who had fled overseas in self-imposed exile - to two years' jail for a conflict of interest over a land scandal involving his ex-wife while he was in power. Thaksin has claimed that the verdict was politically motivated.
On Friday, Thaksin phoned in to a Pheu Thai Party meeting and predicted he would be back in Thailand by the end of this year. It was his first public call to the party - widely regarded as his proxy - since the Army dispersed an anti-government demonstration in central Bangkok on May 19.
Thaksin, who has had an increasingly tough time finding refuge after being accused of terrorism in connection with the recent unrest, said he was calling from an undisclosed African country.
Meanwhile, the prime minister defended spending by the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) to maintain law and order in the capital and provinces where red-shirt groups have been active.
Abhisit said he was assured by Army chief General Anupong Paochinda that budget spending by the CRES followed standard procedures while military and police assigned to the southern provinces and in Bangkok received equal allowances.
There was no complication, he said, but if irregularities in disbursements were found, an investigation would be ordered.
The prime minister said he had asked Anupong about the issue as the general had earlier explained details of military affairs to the Lower House of Parliament.
MP Somchai Paetprasert, from the opposition Pheu Thai Party, who is chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs, had earlier noted that the CRES spent over Bt1 billion, which was higher than the budget set by the government for military operations in the deep South.