Hooligans ordered to incite unrest : Suthep

Citing intelligence reports, Suthep said that the groups are from Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Nakhon Pathom provinces.

They were ordered to create violence during Saturday's anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) movement in the capital.

The protest marked the third anniversary of the coup that ousted then PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

Suthep said that however the groups were under close watch.

Declining to identify the groups, Suthep called them "hooligans" and said that are notorious, but that the police are well prepared to deal with them.

He was speaking after meeting with acting national police chief Pol Gen Thani Somboonsap at Government House where tight security has been imposed by both police and army personnel.

Those guarding the area were equipped with only shields and batons, while barbed wire was installed around Government House to prevent UDD protesters from getting close to the building housing the prime minister's office.

Gen Thani told journalists briefly after a one-hour talk Suthep that the deputy prime minister ordered him to closely monitor the third-party groups which might incite violence during the rally.