Caretaker Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura yesterday denied charges by the Democrat Party that he had met representatives of small parties at the Defence Ministry.

Thamarak held a press conference following the release of security camera footage linking him with allegations that the Thai Rak Thai Party hired smaller parties to run in the April election.

Thamarak insisted he did not receive Chavakarn Tosawat, an executive member of the little-known Pattana Chart Thai Party on March 3 as accused.

On Monday, Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban displayed nine photographs at a Criminal Court hearing to make his case against the Election Com-

mission's alleged failure to prosecute the ruling party despite incriminating evidence of election fraud.

The pictures show three men,  claimed to be close aides of Thamarak, leading Chavakarn to the front of what is allegedly Thamarak's office.

One of the photographs appears to show money changing hands but it is not clear enough to say for sure. All the photos were dated March 3 and timed from 2.18pm onwards.

Thamarak said that on the alleged afternoon of the "hiring",

he was eating naem nuang, a Vietnamese dish, with General Yuthasak Sasiprapa and the senior permanent official of Nong Khai province in his office.

"If those people had met me, they would have seen Yuthasak and the permanent official too," he said.

Thamarak said he was not in charge of managing the party's election campaign and if he had wanted to engage the small parties, he could have seen them outside the ministry.

Suthep's "false evidence" was part of a plot to dissolve the party, he said.

A few hours before the press conference, Thamarak met with the three remaining election commissioners to defend himself against the finding by an EC probe panel chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Nam Yimyam that the Thai Rak Thai had hired minor parties to run in the April poll.

EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp said the EC had not yet concluded if it would ask the attorney-general to dissolve the ruling party as it still had to question some other figures.

EC member Virachai Naewboonnien said the EC panel failed to call the accused persons to defend themselves.

Deputy Thai Rak Thai spokesman Pimuk Simaroj said his party had no resolution to hire small parties to run against it.

The accused party member should have protested the charges on his own behalf, not the party's, he said, adding that the case could not be linked to the party's resolution.