Government critic Sondhi Limthongkul surrendered to the police yesterday to answer charges of insulting His Majesty the King. He was released on bail after four hours of interrogation.

The Criminal Court in the early afternoon approved the arrest warrant for Sondhi, stating the police had enough evidence. The charge referred to an earlier report by the Thai-language Kom Chad Luek newspaper that quoted Sondhi in a way that appeared insulting to His Majesty.

Less than an hour after the warrant was issued, Sondhi turned himself over to interrogators at the Crime Suppression Division's office. He and his lawyers reported to senior police officers in a closed-door meeting. Sondhi denied the charge and was released on bail. During the interrogation, about 100 people gathered in front of the Crime Suppression Division's office to show support for Sondhi.

Sondhi recently postponed meeting the police to respond to the charges brought against him, claiming he was obliged to join rallies of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in the provinces.

Meanwhile, Surapong Towijakchaikul, leader of the Network of People's Power for Democracy, submitted an open letter to caretaker deputy PM Chidchai Vanasatidya, together with copies of a VCD recording of Sondhi's TV interview, which Surapong regarded as insulting to His Majesty.

Surapong said Sondhi committed lese majeste by asking for a royally-sponsored prime minister to replace Prime Minister-in-absentia Thaksin Shinawatra, despite the fact that His Majesty on Tuesday rejected the call, saying it was unconstitutional.

Surapong urged the caretaker government to charge Sondhi as soon as possible.

In the meantime, a C-4 bomb was founded beside the PAD stage in downtown Nakhon Ratchasima before its leaders addressed the waiting crowd yesterday.

Bomb squads were called into the area along with more than a 1,000 police and military officers to prevent "unexpected incidents", causing the event to be called off.