Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said that Thaksin has the rights to return home to fight against the authority's decision to freeze his assets.

"The Assets Examination Committee has already announced that Khun Thaksin has 60 days to fight the charges, to defend how he acquired his alleged wealth. So he has the rights to return home and does not have to ask permission from the government," Surayud said.

However Thaksin should inform the AEC about how and when he would return home, Surayud said.

The government has no duty to guarantee his safety as it is the police's job, he said.

Surayud has suggested that the ousted prime minister should return to Thailand after the national election scheduled to be late this year.

Thaksin's spokesman Noppadon Pattama said earlier Tuesday that Thaksin would end his exile and return home soon without having to ask permission from the military junta. The exact date and time of his return will be known within a couple of days, Noppadon said in a press conference.

Thaksin decided to return home because "he was being bullied" by the military junta, said Noppadon, adding that the decision was in response to the Assets Examination Committee's order to freeze his and his wife's wealth.

Thaksin criticised the order as being "unfair" and ordered setting up of legal team to bring the case to both civil and criminal courts. The legal team is expected to complete their formal complaint within this week.

Thaksin, who went into exile after being ousted in September last year, believed that the junta ordered the AEC to rule that way.

The order to freeze the assets was another serious blow to Thaksin's political standing after his Thai Rak Thai Party was dissolved in May.

Meanwhile the junta's chief Gen Sonthi Bunyaratglin said he welcomed Thaksin back to Thailand.

The general said Thaksin could enter the Thai soil to defend his wealth. If he really ended his exile and return home, the junta and the authorities concerned will make preparation plan to provide safety for him.

He suggested that Thaksin should contact the prime minister, not the junta, if he wished to come home.