Thaksin Shinawatra has unleashed a war of words with Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, sparked by the former prime minister's call for reconciliation with old political rivals.
Gen Prawit on Wednesday advised the fugitive former prime minister to clear all legal matters against himself first, before thinking about talks between old political rivals.
Thaksin posted the message on his Facebook account on Tuesday to mark the 12th anniversary of the Sept 19, 2006 coup that unseated him. The coup was engineered by then army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyratglin.
He said the country could not move forward because it was being derailed by military coups, including the power play in 2014 which ousted the government led by his sister Yingluck.
The deputy prime minister did not name Thaksin directly, instead referring to "a person" who caused problems for the country.
Just hours after Gen Prawit's remark, Thaksin re-entered the ring though his Twitter account.
"His stance and voice look serious, not humble like when he asked to be the army chief," Thaksin wrote, also without actually naming Gen Prawit.
Gen Prawit was army commander-in-chief from 2004 to 2005, when Thaksin was prime minister.
Thaksin fled the country in 2008 before the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions sentenced him to two years for conflict of interest, while prime minister, in the 2003 purchase of state-owned land by his then-wife Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra.
He faces several arrest warrants if he ever returns, including the one accusing him of malfeasance in the Export-Import Bank of Thailand's 4-billion-baht loan to Myanmar.