Thaksin started his morning at 8am with the usual Saturday programme, "Prime Minister Thaksin Talks to the People". He said he would stop hosting this programme after his decision to dissolve Parliament.

"If I win the election on April 2, this programme will return, but if I lose, it will depend on the new government whether the show goes on," he said. His last formal message came with a stern warning about the danger of the economy being derailed by the political instability.

"The state of uncertainty, if it continues, will undermine the trust of investors," he said. "A capitalist economy is based on trust, without which money is nothing more than paper."

But the prime minister said he welcomed the chance to make his case to voters in the April 2 elections.

"The best way is to ask the people, one man, one vote," he said of the election, which is three years ahead of schedule. Earlier he had repeatedly denied that he would cave in to political pressure.

"It is the people who make the decision. If you don't like me, vote for others," he said. "When the people make a decision, all parties have to respect it."

After the radio programme, at 9.45, Thaksin went to Muang Thong Thani to chair the launch of a vocational-education magazine.

Around 2,000 vocational students and teachers greeted him with bunches of roses and placards with his picture, shouting: "We love Prime Minister Thaksin!"

The prime minister then paid his respects to Buddha relics from Sri Lanka.

He refused to be interviewed, saying he had not brought his mouth with him, but he asked the reporters to meet him at noon at the Thai Rak Thai Party office when he chaired a meeting with party members.

Thaksin's wife Pojaman and his only son Panthongtae also attended. Panthongtae has seldom been seen at such meetings.

After the four-hour meeting, Thaksin had a brief exchange with reporters, saying he has well prepared for the next election.

At 2.45pm Thaksin left the party office, driving his wife and son home by himself in his gold-coloured BMW 645 CI, licence plate Phor Kho 9999. He was reported to be at home all afternoon. Thaksin was scheduled to go to Chiang Mai today to be far away from the demonstration in Sanam Luang.

But he cancelled that trip yesterday and instead was scheduled to preside today over the launch of a housing project in the capital's Lat Krabang district.