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Chon Buri MP Sorawuth Noengjamnong said that he and fellow party members had asked House Speaker Chai Chidchob to name this minister, who he said had made phone calls to assemble a crowd at Bangkok's Sanam Luang. The minister, who he said was from Buri Ram, had apparently asked three other MPs to each mobilise at least 2,000 villagers to join the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) protest.

A per-capita payment was offered for a protest to last 15 days from last Tuesday, with two men, identified only as "Joe" and "Oun", as coordinators, Sorawuth said. However, payment was withheld as only 1,600 people showed up, he added.

Declining to reveal the "confidential" details, Sorawuth insisted Army intelligence had the same information and said his group also had evidence that three Samut Prakan MPs and one Ayutthaya MP had spoken on stage at the DAAD protest at Government House.

Meanwhile, Thepthai Senpong, assistant secretary-general of the Democrat Party, linked Tuesday's planned Cabinet meeting in Udon Thani to recent political activity upcountry by 111 administrative members of the defunct Thai Rak Thai party.

He suggested it was a move by Prime Minister Samak Sundarevej to whip up support and sound out provincial opinion as his popularity in the capital plunged.

People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters in Udon Thani yesterday called for cancellation of the meeting. Core member Charoen Mookhajornphan said Samak lacked

the legitimacy to run the country and the PAD would mobilise against him.

PAD opponent Kwanchai Praipana, leader of the Udon Thai Patriots Club, quickly responded by saying that if the PAD disrupted the Cabinet meeting his group would hit

back in revenge for the man who had died in the Bangkok riot.

Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat yesterday commented that a group "to protect democracy from its destroyers" set up by PPP spokesman Kudeb Saikrajang and other party members did not represent the party's view as a whole. The group is scheduled to make speeches in Nonthaburi and Nakhon Ratchasima.

Sompong discounted the rumour that northern and northeastern PPP MPs were pressuring Samak to resign, saying discussion was confined to the best way to resolve the situation and what the premier should do next.