The website also said yesterday that they planned to call on fellow compatriots staying in the United States, China and Japan to gather at embassies there to protest against the coup.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Jarungwat admitted the truth of a report that a group of Thais in the United Kingdom had handed out flyers urging all Thais to gather at the Thai Embassy in London on May 4.

However, the diplomatic mission in the city was preparing to cope with any such activity, he said.

In the UK, people could stage a rally but it must be in accordance with the law, he added.

Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the Council for National Security, said the junta was not worried about some Thais holding a rally in London.

He believes Thai expatriates who monitor events here will understand.

"They have the right to do so. An embassy official will explain the situation to them," he said.

Noppadon Pattama, legal adviser to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said yesterday that he had learned about the plan via www.hi-thaksin.org. It might be the initiative of a group of Thais who are concerned about their country and disagree with the coup, he said.

"The administration under the junta made the country suffer both economically and politically, which causes some Thais in London to consider that they should show action against the junta," he said.