"If it is abolished … there will surely be questions raised by Thais and the international community as to whether the human rights situation here is more regressive after the coup," the coalition of 90 organisations said in a statement.

The group called a press conference after the call last month by a leading member of the Constit-ution Drafting Assembly to downsize and merge the NHRC. It said the Ombudsman could not act unless a complaint was filed. It dealt mainly with the acts by government officials, while the NHRC's work was proactive.

The NHRC's duty was to monitor state and non-state human rights violations, propose laws and policies - and educate the public about related issues.

Some of the activists accused the military of having a hidden agenda in trying to undermine the rights watchdog. But the groups said the NHRC should be strengthened instead, by giving it the power to file complaints directly to the courts.

"We don't know what the Constitution Drafting Committee will come up with but to abolish the NHRC at this early stage is not right," said Sirichai Mai-ngam, president of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's labour union.

Representatives took turns extolling the merits of the rights body, saying it has raised the level of human rights protection and awareness in the country since its inception in 2000.

"There's no government agency that paid any attention to the issue of evictions [of the urban poor]. The NHRC has filled that role and eliminating it would affect the urban poor who number four million in total," said Suttipong Lyetip, a leading slum activist.

Somsri Harn-anantasuk, president of Amnesty International Thailand, said the NHRC provided last resort assistance to the poor and underprivileged and boosted understanding of people's rights. Cambodia was studying the Thai NHRC as a model. In SE Asia, only the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia had similar agencies.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas,

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation