A TV still shows His Majesty the King granting an audience to the then prime minister General Suchinda Kraprayoon and protest leader Chamlong Srimuang on May 20, 1992, to advise them to end a bloody political stand-off.

His Majesty the King's mediation of the bloody political turbulence in May 1992 was replayed to millions across the country on the TV Pool last night in a clear "whisper" to the prime minister of a Royal wish for the political bickering to end.

The TV footage of the eight-minute audience on May 20, 1992, showed His Majesty advising then prime minister Suchinda Kraprayoon and anti-Suchinda protest leader Chamlong Srimuang to end their confrontation and work together to rebuild the nation being torn apart by political violence.

After the royal audience, Suchinda resigned as prime minister and his opponents ended their protests, allowing peace to be restored and an interim government headed by Anand Panyarachun to be appointed.

On the night of May 17, 1992, troops under the Suchinda government opened fire at protesters gathered at Sanam Luang and the adjacent Rajdamnoen Avenue. Chamlong and many other protesters were arrested and briefly jailed. The crackdown continued in the days following, causing an unknown number of fatalities, before the King intervened.

Just over a month ago, as opposition to him began to build, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he would step aside if the King "whispered to me".

A TV Pool anchorman said in his introductory note for the special broadcast, aired at 8pm, that the May 20, 1992, Royal audience was being replayed particularly in regard to the nature of the current political situation.

"The video clip was meant as a signal for all the conflicting parties to try to find a peaceful solution, with Gen Prem Tinsulanonda [now president of the Privy Council] acting as the mediator," said a well-informed military source.

"There are fears that violence may arise between March 13 and 14 when protestors plan to march on from Sanam Luang to Government House to try to pressure the prime minister into resigning," he added.

Fears of further violence are not unfounded, as seen from the bomb blast in front of Prem's residence on Thursday. In addition, two firecracker bombs were also thrown into the residence of Dr Chai-anan Samudvanija, the director of the Vajiravudh College, later the same day. Investigators have asserted that the blast near the security booth of Gen Prem's house was the work of men in military uniform.

A political source said the Royal Palace made a request on Saturday that the TV Pool, which consists of Channel 3, Channel 5, Channel 7, Channel 9, Channel 11 and iTV, broadcast the video clip at 8pm. The footage served as a signal that His Majesty the King was very concerned about the danger the current political crisis posed to Thailand's stability and prosperity due to the threat of violence breaking out as the People's Alliance for Democracy tries to oust Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Ahead of the nationwide TV Pool broadcast last night, His Majesty's speeches given on different occasions to call for national reconciliation and unity were aired separately by TV stations over the weekend.

The bitter political divide has put Thailand on the brink of a full-blown crisis. Thaksin has been in deep political trouble since January after his family sold its majority stake in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore for Bt73.3 billion without paying tax. The People's Alliance for Democracy has been able to rally several tens of thousands of protestors in Bangkok to try to oust Thaksin, whom they say has lost the legitimacy to continue in office.

Thaksin responded to the pressure by dissolving Parliament, calling a general election on April 2 and promising to undertake political reform. He has publicly vowed that he would never bow to the pressure of the mob at Sanam Luang. The political situation has been further complicated by the Opposition's boycott of the general election, making its outcome seem a farce as the Thai Rak Thai is expected to totally dominate Parliament.

During the Royal audience on May 20, 1992, the King was seen advising Gen Suchinda and Chamlong to turn to each other and end the political turbulence that had culminated in a violent confrontation.

"You two should get together to talk it over how to restore the country. This is the reason why I have summoned you. Now we have to rebuild the country from shambles," the King said.

Thaksin's reaction to the broadcast is not yet known, but political sources said he has signalled that he would like to temporarily step down from politics after the April 2 election, depending on its outcome. If the result is overwhelmingly in his favour he will stay on. If not, he will retire temporarily and assign Dr Somkid Jatusripitak to succeed him as prime minister.

The King has previously intervened to end two major political crises. Before the Chamlong-Suchinda confrontation in 1992, he intervened during the pro-democracy movements led by the students to oust the Thanom-Prapas regime. The two leaders lost power on October 13, 1974.