'People who have cars and cabbies should drive and block any tanks that may come out if there is a coup,' Mr Suthin Klangsaeng, a deputy spokesman of the People Power Party, said in comments broadcast on Thai PBS channel. 'Anyone opposing a coup should also take to the streets.'

Mr Somchai, whose People Power Party won elections last year that restored civilian rule after a 2006 coup, faces growing unrest that began in May when protesters opposed his predecessor's attempt to change the military-drafted constitution.

The cabinet is meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai on Thursday as protesters shut Bangkok's international airport for a third day, said Bloomberg.

'The government doesn't seem to have control over the forces that are needed to solve the situation in the airport,' said Mr Chris Baker, a Bangkok-based analyst.

Army Chief Anupong Paojinda's call on Wednesday for early elections to end five months of protests that killed at least six people and culminated in the airport seizure was 'the beginning of a move' in the direction of a possible coup, Mr Baker said.

The army chief, who helped overthrow former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra two years ago, insisted he wasn't pressuring the government.

Airport clearance

The protesters should also leave the airport, said General Anupong, who had refused to enforce a short-lived state of emergency the government declared two months ago to clear demonstrators from their occupation of the prime minister's Bangkok office compound. Demonstration leaders said a new election wouldn't solve any problems.

Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd on Thursday said that if all sides rejected Gen Anupong's call for elections, 'the next step is for the committee to meet again and come up with another suggestion,' according to comments broadcast on Thai PBS.

Mr Somchai, who flew into Chiang Mai, 700 km from Bangkok on Wednesday from a summit in Peru, has been working out of a former international airport since taking office two months ago. That building is now occupied by protesters too.

The disruption prompted Mr Somchai to move next month's Association of Southeast Nations summit from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, his hometown and a stronghold of his party. An early election might affect that meeting, although leaders from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea still plan to attend, officials from each country said on Thursday.

Thailand's benchmark stock index, which has fallen 55 per cent since street demonstrations began May 25, fell 0.8 per cent to 392.13 as of 3.42 pm local time. Thailand's baht slid to 35.36 per dollar, down 0.3 per cent.

Mr Suriyasai Katasila, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, on Wednesday rejected the army's call for the movement's followers to leave the airport, and for new elections.

The alliance accuses Mr Somchai of acting in the interests of his brother-in-law Thaksin, and an election may return the ruling party to power. Parties linked to

Thaksin have won four elections since 2001 on strong rural support for its platform of cheap health care and village loans.

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