BANGKOK, Dec 10: Over 1,000 Thais on Sunday marched through the streets of Bangkok, which is still under martial law, in the largest pro-democracy rally since Thailand's Sept 19 military coup.

Protesters donned black shirts emblazoned with pictures of tanks and the words “Get out!”, and carried banners reading “Democracy cannot grow out of the barrel of a gun” and “End military coups”.

“Today is Constitution Day, and we are here to remember the constitution which was torn up by the coup leaders on Sept 19,” said Chotihak Onsoong, one of the organisers of the demonstration.

“We call for reform that should happen in the atmosphere of democracy. People should not live in fear, we call for the elections to be held as soon as possible,” he added.

The military leaders, who overthrew twice-elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have set up a body to draft a new constitution, which is due to be finished by the end of next year.

They have also promised to hold free and fair elections by the end of 2007.

But organisers decried the constitution-drafting council as a tool set up by the junta which excluded public participation.

“The junta are interfering in the process,” Chotihak said.

Police estimated that about 1,500 people marched from the Grand Palace to the Democracy Monument in central Bangkok, where they were scheduled to hold a candlelight vigil before the protest ends on Sunday evening.

As they marched through the capital, protesters shouted “Junta, get out, Surayud, get out”, referring to the military-installed prime minister Surayud Chulanont. They also blocked traffic around the Democracy Monument.

Although the new government and the junta agreed to lift martial law -- imposed the day after the putsch -- in parts of Thailand, the king has yet to sign the decree, meaning the demonstrators were in violation of the law.

One hundred police officers and eighty traffic police oversaw the demonstration, but there were no reports of any arrests.

“Police know we are not dangerous,” organiser Adisorn Kerdmongkol said.

Four groups -- comprised mostly of local non-governmental organisations, young professionals and students -- organised the rally, which is the largest of all the anti-coup demonstrations so far.

There were fears of violence after reports that 30,000 people could turn up, but anti-coup group People for Democracy bowed out of Sunday's protests and said they would hold their own rally on Jan 6.

A poll published on Sunday by Assumption University claimed that of 5,192 respondents, 27 per cent said they were satisfied with the junta's performance, 38 per cent said they were quite satisfied, 13 per cent were quite dissatisfied, while only 10 per cent said they were dissatisfied. The rest had no comment.—AFP