After a string of dreadful performances in the 2006 World Cup qualifying rounds and an early exit from the 2004 Asian Cup in China, the older stars, who had some notable successes including finishing fourth at the Asian Games in 2002, were disbanded to make way for a younger generation of players.

But with Thailand's poor results in international tournaments coupled with a lack of matches for the senior side, Thailand's world ranking plummeted to No 125, prompting the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) to consider a recall of the ageing stars.

Virath Chanpanich, the manager of the King's Cup team, said he would like to have the cream of the crop playing for the country in the top-flight competition.

"During the past few months, I have constantly talked with the involved parties to prepare the national team for the King's Cup tournament and we all agree to have the best players return to the job," said Virath.

"I think we have not had what we called a senior side for a while, so it's time to resurrect them for the country's biggest tournament and to restore the faith of the fans."

Virath also dropped some hints about the identities of the players who would be recalled into the team.

"We considered turning to senior players like Zico [Kiartisak], Tawan Sripan and Terdsak Jaiman," he said. "The others are the ones who already made the grade at international level such as Itsawa Sighthong, Sakda Jaemdee and Paitoon Tiepma.

"The lads who made the cut into the under-23 side for this year's Asian Games like Kosin Hathairattanakul, Suree Sukha and Suthee Suksomkit would also be included into our consideration," added Virath, who said the list of players would be officially announced this week.