Operators of illegal businesses such as the underground lottery have provided financial support to the anti-government movement and to an alleged attempt to bring down the Thaksin administration, caretaker Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana said yesterday.

He said people whose underground businesses had been affected by government policies had pooled funds to support anti-government groups like the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

Kongsak said his ministry was gathering a list of the alleged sponsors of the anti-Thaksin movement. Kongsak also said he was looking into banners threatening the PAD that had suddenly appeared around Chiang Mai ahead of the group's planned public rally later this month.

"If the banners are found to be against the law, I will order them to be taken down in order to prevent a further rift," he said.

Responding to Kongsak's allegations, Sondhi Limthongkul - a leader of the PAD - said he normally did not pay much attention to propaganda. He said the PAD would definitely go ahead with rallies in Chiang Mai and Buri Ram despite a campaign against the group in the northern city.

Suriyasai Katasila, the PAD's coordinator, described Kongsak's claims as a bid to discredit the group's anti-Thaksin campaign in Chiang Mai.

Suriyasai did not rule out the possibility that people with underground businesses had taken part in the PAD's campaign. He said the authorities should arrest such people if they had done anything illegal, instead of trying to link them to the anti-Thaksin movement.

Suriyasai also denounced the ongoing "hate" campaign in Chiang Mai against the PAD and its leaders. "It's pathetic," he said.

He said the PAD's planned rally in the city would take place as planned despite the thinly veiled threats that have surfaced.

"There have been no changes in the plan. If necessary, to ensure security, we may ask the Chiang Mai governor if we can hold our rally outside the Provincial Hall," he said.

Meanwhile, Thanawat Chaiyawut, a leader of the pro-Thaksin group Lai Khued (Scaring Away Evils), said the group opposed the PAD coming to Chiang Mai because it was concerned that its campaign could adversely affect Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006, which is to be held in the city later this year.

Uaychai Watha, secretary-general of the Assembly of Northeastern People, which is allied with the PAD, said yesterday that the PAD rally in Buri Ram would go ahead as planned.

He expects at least 5,000 people from 10 northeastern provinces to join the event, which has yet to be scheduled.