Seen enjoying the meal were Supreme Commander General Ruengroj Mahasaranont, Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratklin, Navy chief Admiral Satirapan Keyanont, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk and Police chief General Kowit Watana.

Thaksin's deputy Chidchai Vana-satidya and Defence Minister Tham-arak Isarangura also joined the table.

"I came to eat lunch," Sonthi said, side-stepping a direct question on the possibility of a military coup.

He dismissed speculation about an unusual movement of troops on Monday night, saying that soldiers remained at their barracks.

He said the military would not get involved in politics and ruled out the possibility that key commanders who were classmates of Thaksin in Military Preparatory Class 10 would stray from the line of command.

Following lunch, Ruengroj said Thaksin wanted to assess the welfare of military and police officers assigned to peacekeeping.

He expressed confidence that the anti-Thaksin rally slated for Sunday would not spiral out of control and denied rumours that soldiers from special warfare units had been deployed in Bangkok.