BANGKOK: Deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has flown to China, although it is not clear if he is trying to engineer his return, coup leader and army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin said on Thursday.   
 
β€œHe is now in China,” Sonthi said when asked if could verify rumours about Thaksin's whereabouts.   
 
Thaksin's lawyer confirmed the China trip, but refused to give details.
 
β€œIf he wants to come back to Thailand he has to contact the government, not the Council for National Security,” Sonthi said, referring to the body the coup leaders set up with the power to dismiss the interim government they appointed.   
 
Thai media reported this week that Thaksin planned to meet his successor, Surayud Chulanont, at a Southeast Asian leaders meeting in China, although Surayud and Chinese officials denied the report.   
 
The army ousted billionaire telecom tycoon Thaksin on September 19, citing rampant corruption and the need to end months of political tension caused by street campaigns against his rule.   
 
Thaksin, who was in New York at the time, then moved to London.