"I'm the real prime minister" : Yingluck

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra denied on Thursday in an international news report that her elder brother, ousted premier Thaksin, controlled the cabinet remotely from abroad via various telecommunications channels and that her daily job involved just cutting the ribbons and making the speeches.

An article in The New York Times, "In Thailand, Power Comes With Help From Skype", published on January 29, said Thaksin, in self-exile since 2008 and residing mostly in Dubai and London, has made important political decisions for the government via mobile phone and social media applications such as Skype, LINE and Whatsapp.

The article said "the day-to-day governance of the country is carried out by Ms Yingluck, who is genial, photogenic and 18 years younger than Mr. Thaksin. She cuts the ribbons and makes the speeches."

Yingluck on Thursday stood firm, insisting that it is she who is the genuine prime minister of Thailand and that she and her cabinet jointly and clearly run the country.

"Opinion polls show that my leadership and recognition among the people has increased. I have successively proved myself in the past year. I'd rather have people judge me on my performance," she said.

"I can't stop people's thinking but I believe lots of people are fair to me. What a working person wants is moral support."

She described as groundless the report, which said Thaksin participated in some cabinet meetings and ordered ministers through Skype, saying the cabinet conferences are off limits to telephones.

In his article, Thomas Fuller quoted Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan as saying "we can contact him (Thaksin) at all hours.

"The world has changed. It's a boundless world. It's not like a hundred years ago when you had to use a telegraph."