A score of senior police showed up at his funeral at Wat Bua Kwan in Nonthaburi yesterday to "keep the peace" while pro-democracy groups sent representatives and flower wreaths to honour his "heroic" death.

The van carrying his body to the Oct 14, 1973 Memorial on Rajdam-noen Avenue for bathing rituals had to turn around after the chief police officer at Nonthaburi stopped it from going onto the expressway.

"For the sake of keeping the peace, please have his funeral at a temple," Pol Gen Wasant told Nuamthong's wife and pro-democracy activists accompanying the body.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he was saddened by the news but doubted there would be copycat suicide bids.

"We can talk to find ways to solve our problem and explain reasons for the coup," he told reporters.

But former senator and democracy fighter Prateep Ungsongtham Hata believed otherwise.

"Uncle Nuamthong has made the biggest sacrifice for democracy," Prateep declared. "I fought for democracy all my life but don't have the courage to do as much as he did.

"Let me tell you, Nuamthong will inspire a lot more people to fight for the right thing, for the country. He is a tip of the iceberg, of people who are discontented with the coup. They may find their ways to express themselves too if the coup group continue to underestimate the power of the people."

Army spokesman Gen Akara Tipparoj apologised yesterday for the comment he made a month ago that "nobody would hurt themselves for political ideology" after Nuamthong rammed his taxi into a tank at the Royal Plaza on September 30 in protest against the coup.

Nuamthong wrote in his farewell letter that he found Akara's remark an insult and wanted to prove the military general wrong.

"I'll attend his funeral and make merit in his name. What happened was that he might have been too rigid in his ideological belief and did not get a sufficient explanation [about the good side of the coup]," Akara said.

The Young People for Democracy Movement (YPD) yesterday condemned Akara's view as ignorant of the power of people in fighting for democracy.

"His remark is an insult, as Thailand has a long history of people dying to defend democracy from dictatorship," a YPD statement said.