PM urges opposition to join election; claims he won't lead again if his party gets fewer than half the votes cast.

Embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday issued a war cry to his supporters and threw down the gauntlet to his opponents by pledging not to become premier if his party receives fewer votes than the number of abstentions and votes against him.

Thaksin made a last throw of the dice in front of a massive crowd of more than 200,000 people at Sanam Luang for a purported Thai Rak Thai election rally. Facing mounting pressure for his resignation, Thaksin ruled out any lingering speculation he might quit as he becomes increasingly alienated by much of the middle-class and the intellectual community.

Buoyed by waves of rural folk who poured into Sanam Luang and spilled over into Rajdamnoen Avenue, Thaksin made no secret of his intention to turn the April 2 snap election into a semblance of a presidential election. By daring those who don't like him to mark "abstain" on their papers, Thaksin apparently is trying to legitimise the poll - by making it a virtual referendum on him.

"If my party receive less votes than the number of people abstaining combined with votes for smaller parties, I will not accept the premiership," a belligerent Thaksin told the vociferous crowd.

The challenge seemed to express concern that the opposition's boycott would encourage vast numbers of voters to follow suit, turning the election into a farce. He was also apparently worried that unless the election was generally perceived as a referendum on his leadership, the credibility of the results will be seriously questioned, thus aggravating his present political crisis.

"I beg the three opposition parties, Democrat, Chat Thai and Mahachon [which have announced a boycott of the election], to join the contest. If they really insist on a boycott, they can campaign for voters to mark 'abstention' to reject me," he said. Voters are allowed to cast a "no vote" on their ballot card to show they do not approve of any candidate.

Thaksin said after getting elected in the snap poll, he will begin political reforms by amending Article 313 of the Constitution to allow representatives of the people to draft a new charter as occurred in 1974 after the 1973 bloodshed.

Some additional laws later would be amended, he said. The whole political reform would take about one year before a referendum to endorse the new charter and another parliament dissolution before a new election.

"By doing so, I have take two steps backward ... I have scarified myself for the nation," he said.

Thaksin urged all people in conflict with him to calm down after the poll so that Thailand could celebrate with dignity the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne.

Thaksin's supporters - some of whom were said to have been paid between Bt300 and Bt500 to join the rally - came in groups led by megaphone-wielding guides like tourist groups. Sanam Luang, which covers 118,187 square metres has the capacity to accommodate about 100,000 sitting people.

The crowd was far bigger than the anti-Thakin rally last Sunday and Monday called by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). "This huge presence gets rid all of my fatigue accumulated over the past five years," Thaksin said when he took the stage at 7pm.

Suranand Vejjajiva, a minister attached to Prime Minister's Office, claimed over a million attendance before Thaksin's presence. He updated the crowd figure every half an hour. Suriyasai Katasila, coordinator of PAD, urged the Election Commission to investigate the TRT gathering as he heard the ruling party mobilised government resources to organise the rally.

Thaksin's promises during the rally were unbelievable, he said. It was impossible that Thaksin would not take up the premiership as his party would get more votes than its smaller rivals. The election turn out would be low and only TRT members would come to vote, he said. Thaksin, moreover, has no legitimacy to champion political reform, Suriyasai added. Key members of TRT attacked the opposition over the election boycott saying it was undemocratic and urged the supporters at Sanam Luang to vote.

Thaksin urged people throughout the nation to send postcards to Government House to show their support for democracy and the Constitution.

"Send postcards to say we want democracy. No need to love me or vote for me," Thaksin said, adding 5.3 million cards had arrived at Government House so far.

Thaksin defended the Shin Corp deal saying his family played by the rules over tax exemption. He said they still needed to pay income tax of at least Bt300 million a year. Supporters, including thousands of motorbike taxi drivers, shouted motto: "We love Thaksin, we choose Thaksin", countering the "Thaksin get out" cry at the PAD rally.

The ruling Thai Rak Thai party tried to copy every aspect of the anti-Thaksin rally, setting the stage on the opposite side with a blue screen. Unlike the PAD on Sunday, the press was allowed to access the back of the stage without restriction and no pre-registration was required.

Suranand claimed the media was free to report on crowd numbers without fear of harassment from Thaksin supporters as anti-Thaksin protestors did with iTV last Sunday. Students who claimed they represented 50 educational institutes took the stage to hail Thaksin. Some said the government was the best and Thaksin was their hero. However, many students unions, including the Student Federation of Thailand, Thammasat University Student Union and high school students from Triam Udom are seeking to oust Thaksin.

Thaksin said the protest against him was the product of a conflict among his old friends. He begged the friends-turned-foe, such as media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul and Dharma Army chief Chamlong Srimuang, to talk to him.

Premier rolls dice in all-or-nothing bet

Defiant to all calls for his resignation, Thaksin has made a swift tactical change to fight back although, a long, difficult road stretches ahead of him before he can be confident he has really survived the storm.

When he led his 100 Thai Rak Thai party-list candidates to apply at the Election Commission for the April 2 election yesterday, he completed the first hurdle after widespread rumours about a possible military coup during the last few days.

Thaksin will hold a mass rally at Sanam Luang today in front of supporters expected to number in the hundreds of thousands.

This way, he can attack his opponents - including the Democrat Party, the People's Alli-ance for Democracy (PAD) and academics - for their "groundless" allegations against his family and the Thai Rak Thai Party.

He will show his sincerity by promising to pave the way for a "neutral" panel to host the constitutional amendments.

Meanwhile, he would convince his supporters that the three main opposition parties - particularly the Democrats - rejected his "democratic spirit" when they boycotted the April 2 election with a claim that his administration has ruined democracy.

Thaksin will claim the turnout at his rally undermines the legitimacy of the PAD mass rally on Sunday, while attempting to discredit the group by saying its call for his resignation goes against the majority of voters who want him to stay in power.

However, Thaksin will have to pray that the Sunday rally will not end in bloodshed as the alliance is reported to be planning to move on to Government House and Thaksin's residence to pressure him to step down.

The confrontation could lead to violence, which, as Thailand's modern political history shows, would force the prime minister to accept responsibility and quit.

If Thaksin can pass this critical point, he could then have "green lights" all the way.

When he leads 400 TRT constituent candidates to apply to the EC tomorrow, he will hope they have at least one contender from other parties in every constituency.

Otherwise, a TRT candidate without a contender will need to win at least 20 per cent of all eligible votes in the constituency as the election law requires. Fewer votes will lead to a new election round until the winning candidate meets the requirement.

Although the problem is expected in some southern constituencies in the Democrat stronghold, Thaksin's ally, the Prachakorn Thai Party, under controversial former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej, said it would "volunteer" to help TRT by sending candidates to run in every constituency.

If the April 2 poll takes place, Thaksin will be hoping the EC will approve all 500 winning contenders - 400 in constituencies and 100 on the party-list - in 30 days to pave the way for the first House session.

At this point, with the Democrats, Chat Thai and Mahachon boycotting the poll, TRT should have no problem as it seems unlikely the other parties would dare to file complaints alleging election fraud.

With TRT expected to win all 500 seats, the House can then launch an opening session to select the prime minister.

Thaksin then will be hoping the movement against his return will wither and he can assume power and complete a third term.

He would also hope that the public's suspicions over his alleged abuse of power to benefit his family-business empire, which led to the Bt73.3-billion sell-off of Shin Corp in late January, would be forgotten.

Next in the comeback could be to drag out the constitutional amendments until it is certain that he has regained complete power and his TRT is happy with all the changes in the charter.

At this step, Thaksin could dissolve the House to make the amended charter effective, leading to a new round of elections. By this time, his position would be so strong that the three opposition rivals would find it hard to challenge his leadership again.