Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont will meet with the Council for National Security (CNS) on Friday to discuss whether it is necessary to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok to deal with the mass anti-coup rally scheduled on Friday.

The premier said he would weigh comments from all the parties involved and heed recommendation from the CNS "because they take care of security", local news group The Nation said Thursday.

His remarks came after CNS chairman and Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin expressed concern on Thursday that if anti-coup protests kept on festering, authorities could lose control of the situation and there could be chaos.

"With so many distractions, the constitution drafting might veer off course and impact on security, investment, the economy and many other issues," Sonthi said, explaining why he wanted to nip the anti-coup rallies in the bud before they became a full-blown problem.

The general said it was the government, and not the CNS, which had the power to issue a decree to declare a state of emergency.

Since Thursday, police and military officers has set up checkpoints along the highways in Nakhon Ratchasima, the main link between north-eastern provinces and Bangkok, in an attempt to block prospective protesters from joining rallies in the capital.

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2007)