Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Friday the lifting of bans on political activities and whether to allow ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return home were not discussed during his meeting with the Council for National Security (CNS).

After the meeting on Friday, Surayud told local media that the CNS did not consider withdrawing Announcement No. 15 and No. 27 imposed months ago after the coup to stop parties from involving in political activities.

Surayud said CNS members and some ministers discussed how to solve southern unrest more effectively. They initially agreed to raise living standards of villagers in southernmost provinces as suggested by the Interior Ministry, he added.

Moreover, he said the council did not talk about whether to allow Thaksin to come back to Thailand to defend himself on alleged corruption charges.

Earlier this week, Thaksin's legal advisor Noppadol Pattama said that the ousted premier would like to come back to Thailand to defend himself on charges including the Ratchadaphisek land deal and the CTX bomb scanners scandal.

It was earlier expected that these issues would have been addressed at the military's meeting on Friday, the Bangkok Post said on its website.

Source: Xinhua