PARIS - Former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday reunited with her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, in Paris, Thai media reported.

Ms Yingluck departed from Thailand Wednesday night to start a junta-endorsed vacation in Europe which would last for about 20 days. She was later warmly greeted at the airport by her brother, the self-exiled former premier who was ousted from office by a 2006 military coup and who fled Thailand in 2008 to avoid a two-year jail term.

Thaksin's son Panthongtae posted a picture of his father hugging a woman whose clothing matched what Ms Yingluck was seen wearing when she left Suvarnabhumi airport at Bangkok.

A separate picture posted on Twitter show Thaksin and Ms Yingluck hugging and posing for the camera.

Ms Yingluck started her vacation amid speculation that she might not come back to fight a case of alleged negligence in overseeing a controversial rice-pledging scheme. If found guilty, she could face a jail term as well as a five-year ban from politics.

Before boarding her flight, Ms Yingluck promised reporters at the airport that she would return in August.

"Let me take a leisure trip with my son. Please let's talk when I return in August," she said.

Ms Yingluck is scheduled to return to Thailand on Aug 10. She said earlier she planned to visit France, the UK, Germany, Belgium and the USA, the Bangkok Post reported.

She is expected to attend Thaksin's 65th birthday celebration in France on July 26.