"Any visitor would agree with me that Chiang Mai and the upper northern region are an ideal location for putting people in a good mood," he said.

Even reporters accompanying him on the trip since Monday had posed friendly questions and not fierce ones, he said.

With regard to continuing protests demanding his resignation, he said his government would avoid confrontation even though protesters might be aiming for the opposite.

"I understand it is the protest strategy to stir up trouble and violence ahead of Sunday's election," he said, referring to the People's Alliance for Democracy's relocation of its rally site from Government House to Siam Paragon.

He said he would not waver in his determination to forge peace and reconciliation, adding that he was open to advice on political reforms.

"The political turmoil will end if relevant parties talk to one another instead of fighting for self-serving goals," he said.

After a new government is formed he expects Parliament to amend Article 313 of the Constitution, paving the way for amendments to the charter. A neutral panel was expected to take charge of re-writing it, he said.

Reacting to the opposition's threat to boycott the rewriting process, he said he would allow time for reasoning.

"I will find time to talk to Chat Thai Party leader Banharn Silapa-archa," he said in reference to his attempt to mend fences with the three opposition parties, including the Democrats and Mahachon.

He warned about adverse impacts on the economy if his opponents refuse to reconcile with him.

"For two days of protests at Siam Paragon, the cost of lost business is estimated at about Bt100 million and serious damage will keep adding up if the protests persist," he said.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined up to welcome him when he made pilgrimages to Buddhist holy sites in Chiang Mai and Lamphun earlier this week.

They chanted "Thaksin Fight, Fight" in a show of moral support. His old teacher, Fongkaew Theerasawat, 89, gave him a King Rama V pendant, considered a charm.