Defence Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary Adm Bannawit Kengrian, said senior military officers would consider further action if Samak failed to apologise for his critical comments against Prem.

“If he does not apologise, that means he does not admit that he did something wrong. But what he did was wrong,” said the officer.

Samak has announced that he and his co-host Dusit Siriwan would quit “This Morning in Thailand” TV programme on Army-run Channel 5 - and all of their radio and television programmes - after incurring an angry reaction from the military top brass for his critical comments against Prem.

On last Thursday’s talk show, Samak accused Prem of taking political sides by discussing political ethics at a seminar at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University.

Samak said Prem’s comments could be construed as an “implicit” attack on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra even though Prem did not name him.

Bannawit said he believed the Army could make Samak apologise to Prem since it had full command of Channel 5, which holds the contract for the TV programme.

In a related development, PM’s Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva yesterday denied any foul play in an Army radio station’s 10-minute black-out of a live interview with Bangkok Senator Sopon Supapong on Prem’s rise to the head of the Privy Council.

Sopon said he would take legal action if the officials concerned could not give him an acceptable clarification on why part of his interview was muted.