Thaksin said his visit was part of his government's policy to end poverty.

In his weekly radio programme on Saturday, Thaksin said he would hand out title deeds for farmland, crop seeds and breeding livestock in three northeastern provinces from today.

"Can't I work at all?" Thaksin said yesterday when asked about claims that he could be deemed to be violating the election law by giving handouts after the enactment of a decree setting October 15 as the election day.

"Never," he said when it was suggested he could be disqualified from the election for giving handouts to poor farmers. "I'd have to do these things anyway - they are stated in my policies, and I've done them all along."

Told that former Election Commission (EC) member Sawat Chotephanit had interpreted the law as banning handouts within six months of the election date, Thaksin said no one could stop him from working for the country. "We can't just say 'Please stop developing the country as development has to wait for the politicians' fight to end'," he said.

The Thai Rak Thai leader declined to answer and walked away when reporters asked him whether political etiquette required him not to make such handouts.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva reminded Thaksin yesterday that political etiquette dictated that he refrain from using state power to gain an electoral advantage.

Abhisit said the new EC should pay attention to the issue as Thaksin was apparently using state power to gain advantage ahead of an election.

Democrat chief adviser Chuan Leekpai said it was useless to criticise Thaksin over his provincial tour "because he does not care about ethics or political etiquette. He cares only about victory".

"I remember he once said he'd rather die than lose ... That means he would do anything to win," the former prime minister said.

Chuan said that while Thaksin called on the people to be united for the sake of His Majesty, his actions indicated otherwise. "This prime minister does not treat all subjects of His Majesty equally. He gives priority to groups of people or provinces that vote for Thai Rak Thai."

In Khon Kaen, meanwhile, a leader of the Khon Kaen People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) said her group would meet today and stage a peaceful campaign against Thaksin.

Soonthree Hatthisengking said the group would not disrupt Thaksin's visit to the province.

But a group calling themselves Northeastern People Who Believe in Judicial Activism distributed leaflets saying they would campaign for Thaksin's ouster and would launch anti-Thaksin protests at places the prime minister was due to visit.