Nitya was referring to Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo's comment a few weeks ago that Singapore is confident its strained relations with Thailand will "get back on track" as the ties are "deeply rooted" and the countries share common interests.

"We are assessing the situation but we welcome Yeo's comments which signalled they want to amend the relationship," Nitya said, describing the ties between Thailand and Singapore have still been active at a certain level.

Nitya was speaking with The Nation's Group Editor Thepchai Yong in "Siam This Morning" on Channel 5 on Tuesday.

In a speech to the city-state's Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Wednesday, Yeo said difficulties occasionally arose between neighbours but "we take such problems in our stride."

"In the case of Thailand, I am confident that we will be able to put relations back on track because not only are our links with Thailand extensive and deeply-rooted, we also share many common interests," Yeo said.

Thai and Singapore relations plunged after a visit of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to the island state during which he met Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar in January.

Bangkok reacted angrily by suspending bilateral exchange programme and official visits of high ranking officials.

 Yeo also revealed he had written to Nitya to thank him for security measures protecting Singaporean fans during the recent Asean football final in Bangkok.

Thepchai also referred to Thaksin's hiring of a US lobbyist firm, as many people had expressed concern that the firm would have an influence on the US government to act in favour of Thaksin.

Nitya said he did not believe that using the firm would help Thaksin's attempt to cause a negative impact.

"The US government has its own sources of information and has been following up the situation in Thailand, particularly after the coup d'etat. Therefore, I believe that the US has based its evaluation on Thailand by its sources. It is not true that it would believe the information from the lobbyist companies," said Nitya, who was a former ambassador to Washington DC and New York for many years.

The Nation