Critics of former PM 'try to discredit her with escape rumors'

Opponents of former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra were trying to discredit her by spreading false rumors that she would flee abroad before she is due to face criminal charges this month, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

Yingluck became Thailand's first female prime minister in 2011, but was removed from office days before a May 2014 coup. That followed months of protests in Bangkok against her government.

Meanwhile, Patrick Murphy, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Thailand, told reporters that he had not been informed of such rumors to the extent that Yingluck might have requested political asylum in the United States.