Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has told authorities to beef up security to ensure peaceful New Year festivities.
She said she issued the order during her visit to the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) and the army headquarters yesterday morning.
"I would like the New Year to be a happy moment for people, so I told agencies not to be lax. If they detect any situation, they must report it right away. I will monitor the situation during the New Year holiday," Ms Yingluck said.
The prime minister wants all security-related agencies to cooperate with one another to prevent incidents around the clock during the New Year period.
Ms Yingluck said she learned from her visit to the Isoc and the army headquarters that they had a command that was capable of comprehensively supervising security affairs.
She said they had satellite-based and intelligence systems in the same command and she wanted them to cooperate with the police and the Interior Ministry to guarantee order over New Year.
Asked to comment about a report that Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung had predicted bombings during the New Year holiday, Ms Yingluck said she did not expect that kind of situation to arise and all agencies were joining forces to prevent anything untoward happening.
Army chief-of-staff Sirichai Ditthakul briefed Ms Yingluck on the structure and achievements of the Isoc. The meeting did not discuss past bombings.
Mr Chalerm yesterday denied saying there would be bombings at 10 locations over the New Year.
He said he had only mentioned the blasts in 2007 to urge the parties concerned to study them and work out security measures to guarantee order during the upcoming New Year celebrations.
"I supervise the police, so I must ensure order. I am not so insane as to say things that would shock people," Mr Chalerm said.
Mr Chalerm said the time bomb found on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in Bangkok on Dec 6 was politically motivated and was not intended to harm anyone.
The bomb had been placed to be easily noticed and a red shirt was in the bag in which the bomb had been carried.
The bomb in an open black bag was placed on a traffic island on the avenue. It was wrapped in tape and had a digital clock, electrical circuits, batteries attached while it contained small pieces of metal and broken glass.
Police used a water jet to destroy the bomb and later found its circuitry was incomplete.
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