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Army chief General Anupong Paochinda and Police chief Patcharawat Wongsuwan held a tense meeting yesterday afternoon with Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to devise a plan on how to prevent the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) from taking over the Government House compound tomorrow.

Following the meeting, Patcharawat said the police would only allow the PAD to hold its rally at the Makhawan Rangsan Bridge and would use all means possible to block the rally from moving to Government House tomorrow.

The police plan to bring in more than 3,000 officers to ensure security around Government House.

Police Lt-General Vichien-chote Sukchotirat, the Govern-ment House spokesman, issued a warning: "The PAD has committed itself to becoming either a coup-maker or a traitor," he said.

"The protesters can't besiege Government House, which is the symbol of democracy and of the administration. When they stage a coup, they have to take over Government House. If they are successful, we call it a coup or a reform. If not successful, we call it the act of a traitor.

"So if the PAD tries to take over Government House, it will either become a coup-maker or a traitor. It is the responsibility of every party not to allow this to happen. Nobody can take over Government House. They can stage a rally anywhere they want, but they can't move the rally to Government House."

Leaders of the PAD announced late on Tuesday that they were planning to relocate their street demonstrations from Makhawan Rangsan Bridge to Government House tomorrow. The PAD has been holding rallies since May 25, at first trying to block the government's attempt to rewrite the Constitution and now calling for the Samak government to step down.

It has also accused the Samak government of acting as nominee for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is the principal target of the PAD.

Intelligence officials have expressed concern over the possibility of street violence, which might get out of control if the PAD succeeds in consolidating its rally in front of Government House.

On Monday, Chamlong Srimuang, one of the five leaders of the PAD, tested public support by holding a rally in front of the Election Commission's headquarters on Rama I Road. The PAD succeeded in attracting a crowd of 6,000 wearing bright yellow shirts, according to government intelligence estimates.

Yesterday, the PAD, under the leadership of Pipop Thongchai and Somsak Kosaisuk, also succeeded in mobilising 2,500 supporters to rally in front of the Foreign Ministry building on Sri Ayutthaya Road. There they attacked Noppadon Pattama, the foreign minister, over his deal with the Cambodian government on the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site.

The mass support has emboldened the PAD's leaders with the confidence to move on to take over Government House tomorrow, the intelligence officials said.

The stock market continued to slide yesterday on growing concern about the political situation, losing 1.47 per cent to 765.74 points. The SET Index peaked this year at 884.19 on May 25, before starting its sharp decline.

Adisak Kammool, vice president of KGI Securities, said investors were becoming worried over the deteriorating political situation. "Foreign investors are also very concerned with Thai politics, because they don't know how it will end," he said.

Since the beginning of this year, foreign investors have become net sellers of Thai equities to the tune of Bt37 billion.

Adisak said what was worrying was that foreign investors, who accumulated Thai equities between 2005 and 2007 with a net buy of Bt260 billion, might start to unload their holdings, which could batter the stock market further.