PHEU Thai Party has denied Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s claim that ex-PMYingluck Shinawatra damaged the country when she spoke to foreign media on Friday.

Party deputy spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said he was unsure whether Prayuthad read the foreign media reports based on her comments.

But he noted that General Prayut had said, without identifying anyone, that someone had talked to the foreign media and caused damage to the country.

“He may have read the Thai translations [of the articles], which could be incomplete or inaccurate,” Anusorn said.

“A former prime minister who came from an election [win] is well aware of the trust of the public [in her]. She certainly has not done anything damaging to the country.”

He said Yingluck, Pheu Thai’s former leader, was careful when commenting about Thailand and “has always thought of the national interests”.

On Friday, foreign correspondents were invited for salad at Yingluck’s house, and she gave them a tour of her vegetable garden.

Yingluck gently parried questions on politics and touched briefly on that area, saying a new constitution must be carefully considered before it goes to a referendum in July.

“You will have to live with this constitution. So please make sure it fits with Thailand. It must be |people-centric,” she said.

She also said: “We need to keep quiet and give the junta a chance.”

She added that she hoped the government would “do as it promised” and hold a general election.

Yingluck said she did not think she would be held responsible for her then government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.

She argued that she was a policy-maker and therefore should not be deemed responsible for the corruption, according to a source close to her.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders is trying Yingluckfor alleged negligence in connection with the rice subsidy project.

A government fact-finding committee has determined that she should be held responsible for half of the estimated Bt500 billion in public funds lost under the project.