Army chief Chalermchai Sitthisad has ordered a close watch on pro-election campaigners planning to stage demonstrations on Saturday.
Gen Chalermchai, who is also secretary-general of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), has also instructed officials to make the public understand that an election will finally take place but it must be in line with the stipulated laws, according to Maj Gen Piyaphong Klinphan, chief of the 11th Military Circle in his capacity as a member of the NCPO's spokesman team.
Maj Gen Piyaphong was answering questions about pro-democracy groups led by Rangsiman Rome and Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwat.
The public should also be aware that the NCPO and the government are working together to make sure everything conforms to the roadmap so that an election can finally be held, Maj Gen Piyaphong said.
Police will be deployed to the area where the groups are set to hold their demonstration to assist with traffic management, he said.
They have been instructed not to clash with demonstrators but to be vigilant for any third parties who may try and attempt to exploit the event in order to cause unrest, he said.
Asked how they would deal with the demonstrators if the rally became more unruly, Maj Gen Piyaphong said he believed most people understood that the country is now peaceful and he expected there to be no attempt by either side to escalate the situation
"If the demonstrators are still committed to staging events, we may have to try to appeal to their conscience that we are all Thai people. Talks are always the best option to avert possible violence," said Maj Gen Piyaphong.
Asked whether he was worried about the possibility of any third parties attempting to cause unrest at the rally, he said his officers have been monitoring those who have records of staging violence and are well placed to curtail any disruptive plans they may have for the event this weekend.
Maj Gen Piyaphong stressed police will not seek to inflame tensions, and their role will only be to deal with issues that normally arise during large gatherings of people.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has instructed the army to speed up the production of procedural manuals for police officers, according to the Defence Ministry's spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich.
Law enforcers must always act strictly according to judicial protocols which will be fully laid out in the new handbooks, Lt Gen Kongcheep said.
Panitan Wattanayagorn, adviser to Gen Prawit, said May is known to be a symbolic month for political activities in the country after the coup of 2014, and authorities would provide proper channels for the activists to communicate their political messages.
Talks will be held between the activist leaders and the state in order to help maintain the peace, he noted.
The pro-election campaigners earlier demanded that an election be held in November this year, and have also called for the military to end its support for the NCPO.
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