He said three officers had been following him after he reported to the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) - now the CNS - on September 23, four days after the coup. However, he did not feel pressured as he had no plans to mobilise people.

Khamta said the CNS and the government were too paranoid about possible subversive acts as only a minority of people was involved - and their actions would not hurt the government.

Khamta, who is secretary-general of the Caravan of the Poor, was behind several rallies by poor northeastern villagers in support of Thaksin while he was serving as prime minister.

Nevertheless, he said the government should be aware of farmers' movements as they were calling for help on agricultural crop prices.

"The people who are organising themselves are farmers in trouble. They want the government to solve the price problem. It's not a political movement," Khamta said.

"But in the past, the government has linked the movements with the political undercurrents supported by local former MPs," he said.

Weerapol Sopa, an adviser to the Network of Civic Groups of Thailand, said yesterday that those behind the underground movements were mainly canvassers for former Thai Rak Thai MPs.

Dussadee Ngamlua

The Nation