Pressure mounts on Thai PM with call for king to intervene

The Press Council of Thailand and the Lawyers Council of Thailand joined growing calls for a resolution to the months of wrangling and mass rallies calling for Thaksin's resignation.

"We ask people from all sectors to present the facts in order to create a mass consensus that will allow the king to exercise his rights under (the constitution) for the sake of country," they said in a joint statement

"This crisis has created unprecedented confrontation and division," they said.

Thaksin has been at the centre of a political storm since late January, when his family sold the telecoms conglomerate he founded to Singaporean investors in a tax-free 1.9 billion dollar deal.

The two independent councils accused Thaksin of jeopardising national security by selling off sensitive telecoms assets, describing it as a crime which carried a punishment of 10 years imprisonment under the criminal code.

Thai regulators have found only minor violations in the sale of Shin Corp, and the Constitutional Court has declined to investigate the matter, but accusations linger that it breached ethical norms.