Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said that the deputy leader of the Democrat Party, Nipit Intarasombat, must take responsibility for comments which alleged the government's assistance to loan-shark victims was "fake".

Previously, the Democrat deputy leader wrote on his Facebook page comments about police mediation efforts between loan sharks and their debtors, which was touted as a success after many land title deeds previously kept as collateral by loan sharks were returned.

In the post, Mr Nipit wrote that he doubted the authenticity of the land title deeds that were returned "by a deputy prime minister" to scores of local residents in ceremonies across a number of provinces -- an apparent dig at Gen Prawit, who attended a number of ceremonies wherein he returned title deeds to loan-shark victims.

Mr Nipit also speculated that some police officers may have set up such events to please "a senior figure in exchange for promotions".

Gen Prawit said yesterday that all of the returned title deeds were real and can be independently verified.