"EC officials will check on the rally in order to ensure it complies with electoral laws," EC secretary general Ekachai Warunprapha said.

Under campaign rules, electoral candidates are banned from making pledges that can be construed as vote-buying and from raising malicious charges against rival candidates or parties.

Before yesterday's rally, Thaksin promised to deny every charge relating to his involvement in the Shin Corp sell-off. He also hinted he would unveil his plans for political reform and government handouts if re-elected.

Ekachai expressed confidence the April 2 snap election would proceed as scheduled, even though a civic group had petitioned the Administrative Court to delay the ballot.

"Pending the court verdict, I see no justification to dispute the royal decree for a snap election," he said.

He also reminded government opponents they might face legal proceedings if they try to get people to refrain from voting or rig the balloting. With regard to registration for party-list candidates, two small parties tried but failed to complete the registration process before yesterday's deadline.

The EC rejected the list submitted by the Kasikorn Thai Party on the grounds that the composition of five aspiring candidates was lopsided, failing to represent every region of the country.

The Tantawan Party failed to complete its registration as a new party before submitting its electoral candidates.

A group of 20 Ramkhamhaeng University students petitioned the EC to extend the campaigning period from 30 to 60 days, arguing that voters had too little time to ponder their decision.