Thaksin was speaking to villages in Mahasarakham when he visited the northeastern province on Tuesday.

"The problem of Thai society is that it's easy for people to be deceived and it's easy for them to believe rumours," Thaksin said.

"Let alone normal villagers, those who have education were also deceived. I regret their waste of time for studying.

"These people are ready to believe anyone who deceive them. But if you, villagers, have enough information, you can't be deceived.

"Most Bangkokians were deceived. Worse still, they were deceived by bad people," Thaksin said.

A day after attacking Bangkokians, Thaksin told some 3,000 people in Roi Et on Wednesday that he may seek another term as prime minister.

Thaksin told the crowd that the calls by villagers for him to fight on made it hard for him to make decision to retreat.

He said he was pondering whether to leave politics because he had become tired working for the country for six years but was still disliked by the media and a group of people, who lost their vested interest.

"But now I met people who told me to fight on. I met people who gave me moral support and pin their hope on me," Thaksin said.

"I am standing at the crossroads. I would like to devote myself to the country but a group of people may not be happy. They don't want me to become the prime minister because they will lose interest and political recognition."

The Nation