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Sonthi, chairman of the Council for National Security, said that if people do not support a coup, it cannot take place.

"If society is strong enough, we do not need to have a coup," the general said in an interview given to several media organisations.

"All parties must help to restore our country's strength. We have to love the country more in the ideological term. Take Vietnam as an example. Their people are very nationalistic. They have discipline. Their leaders love the country," he said.

Sonthi recently was on a trip to Vietnam as part of his farewell tour that led him to some neighbouring countries in addition to local military camps.

The general retires at the end of September.

On Sept 19 last year, Sonthi, also the Army commander-in-chief, led a bloodless coup that overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra.

"In the future a coup might happen again if the leadership has a conflict of interest or is corrupt. But the coup will be based on the people's power. This is something inevitable," Sonthi said on Wednesday.