Before a gathering of over 100 media editors invited to lunch with him and key Cabinet members at Government House, Surayud insisted the interim leadership did not intend to hold on to power and would stay neutral when Thailand embarks on a political reform blueprint next year.

"I believe we share the same feelings regarding what happened on September 19," he said. "Even I hesitated to accept the job of interim prime minister. But I made up my mind after thinking it through and seeing the chances to solve all the basic problems of our country."

The sudden invitation to the editors had caused speculation about the fragile post-coup media freedom, but Surayud only urged the senior journalists to report the truth and understand the government's four-point agenda. The meeting, which he said was the first of direct exchanges of opinions between the media and the government, was called because he had found some rare free time after the Asean summit was cancelled.

"In business, they say there's no such thing as free lunch, so today's lunch is not going to be free," Surayud said at the beginning of his speech.

"Next year will be very important to the future of our country, and what I'm going to ask is not something beyond your capability. I just want to call on all of you to truly realise that you have a big role to play in leading this country through this very critical juncture."

He reiterated the government's agenda: to help Thailand achieve political reform so a free and fair election can take place; to bring about reconciliation and heal the wounds of political divide as well as conflicts in the deep South; to narrow the economic gap between Thais, and to restore justice and equality.

"A year of great reform is coming to us," he said. "It will be a year of making a big choice and we want all of you to play a constructive part in it."

Surayud said the Thai people were in need of accurate information and truthful analyses because their voices were the essential element of political reform, and that inaccurate information could lead to misunderstanding and "inaccurate choices".

"Neither the interim government nor the Council for National Security (CNS) wants to extend its political connections [beyond the next general election]," he said. "All we want is to find out what the people really want and we won't mind making corrections if or whenever the media believe that we are veering off track."

After his speech, he was asked if he had "something in mind" regarding the crucial constitutional question of whether the next prime minister must come from the election.

"I don't have any conclusion, and neither does the interim government or the CNS. We just want to facilitate a national debate on such an issue," Surayud said.

"And the public should not be confused by our no-conclusion stand. It's the media's job to make them understand. We are here to solve a national crisis and I don't want to be used as a standard or barometer, because most of all I didn't come from an election. It's the people who will decide what is best for them."

He also called on the media to be even more active in exposing corruption and digging into old cases of graft. The interim prime minister pledged to support legal amendments to enhance the effectiveness of the Information Act in helping journalists combat political corruption.