In his first interview with the western media, Sonthi said, "During the Thaksin era, there were hundreds of thousands of Thai people coming out to protest him and his government

"(Therefore) It is very dangerous for a man to have hundreds of thousands of people disliking him. I cannot say whether or not it is safe for him because of this reason."

Sonthi has vowed to hold democratic elections before the end of this year, saying the army would immediately hand over control to a civilian government following the inauguration of a new prime minister.

Sonthi ensured that the elections will happen this year.

 "As for the role of the army after the election, once we have a new elected government, the army will withdraw and return to their units to be a professional military."

Sonthi led the military to oust then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was abroad on September last year, citing rampant corruption in his government.

The paper quoted Sonthi as saying that the policy of engagement would not change. "The use of force, a hard approach, will not do any good," he said.

For Sonthi, the problem appears to be that the junta is increasingly being viewed by many Thais as having overstayed its welcome.