Somsak Kosaisuk said he and fellow PAD leader Pipop Thongchai were asked to join the NLA, but both consulted PAD leadership and declined the invitation on the grounds that they would rather perform a check-and-balance role.

"We want to help make sure that the NLA will not be a slave assembly like the parliament in the reign of Thaksin Shinawatra,'' he said.

PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said the agency wants to join with the public sector to draft a parallel constitution to ensure that the new document is in line with public demand.

He said the body that drafts this constitution will include the Campaign for Popular Democracy, Friends of People and other activist groups and will consist of over 1,000 people. The process will take about five months. A provincial meeting will be organised to allow all members to brainstorm.

Suriyasai said they would use the 1997 constitution as a model. The main difference in the new draft will be the absence of an organic law that transgresses the constitution, he said.

He also said that if the new government is sincere about political reform, they will look into the parallel constitution and push for its use in the official constitution's formation.