The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her uncle was an ardent admirer of Thaksin and likely to faint at the sight of blood, even just a little amount from a tiny cut.

"He faints even when he has a tiny cut. He could hardly take a role in an assassination. After all, he has always defended Thaksin whenever people criticise the premier. He has always adored the Thai Rak Thai [TRT] Party. Frankly speaking, all of our relatives have liked the premier," she said.

"But whether my uncle was duped into an assassination plot is something I don't know," Thawatchai's niece said.

She took a half-day off from work in Ratchaburi yesterday to visit Thawatchai in Bangkok. But she arrived at the Police Crime Suppression Division during a no-visit period and couldn't see him.

Thawatchai has been in police custody for a week. He was arrested last Thursday while getting into a Daewoo car, which was loaded with explosives and parked near the prime minister's residence.

Thaksin and police have treated the case as a car-bomb plot and an attempt to kill the premier. But opinion polls show many people believe it was a stunt to generate public sympathy.

Thawatchai has pleaded innocent, saying he was paid just Bt200 to fetch the car without knowing it contained explosives. He has not implicated anyone else in the affair.

At present, he faces one charge of possessing explosive devices. But police said yesterday they were gathering more evidence to support the theory that Thawatchai was involved in a plot to kill Thaksin.

Experts are examining hair and fingerprints, plus items like pre-paid One-2-Call cards, a lighter, a drinking bottle, and a near-empty bottle of liquor found in a blue pickup seized on Tuesday.

The pickup had been used by Staff Sergeant Chakrit Jantara, 31. The pickup appeared on a route that was going to be used by Thaksin's motorcade on August 9.

Chakrit was not present during a search of his apartment on Tuesday. He was seen hurriedly leaving his flat, just half an hour before police arrived.  When asked whether police were now hunting for Chakrit, Montri declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Thawatchai's wife Sangworn said yesterday she had received a satisfactory explanation from police as to why the amount of evidence listed as being found in the Daewoo car last Thursday had increased - but not a controversial video that showed him talking about the case.

On Tuesday, she and the Law Society of Thailand cried foul over the police's release of the VCD.

Crime Suppression Division chief Maj-General Winai Thongsong said police would soon explain to Thawatchai's family the public release of him making those confusing confessions.

"His family can also check all recordings of the questioning sessions. We have recorded all of his questioning sessions," Winai said.

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya tried to justify to the police's release of the VCD. "Police have just hoped to tell the public that this is not a stageup," he said. He said the media, not police, had disclosed investigation details to the public.