"For the benefit of the country, while it has no parliament and senate, laws requiring action by members of parliament and the senate will be approved" by the provisional military government, said the statement.

The announcement was the latest in a series cementing the power of General Sonthi Boonyaratglin and other coup leaders since the bloodless ousting Tuesday night of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Minutes earlier, television also showed a picture of Thailand's king meeting with Sonthi and other coup leaders on the same night that they overthrew Thaksin.

On Wednesday, the king publicly endorsed Sonthi as the leader of Thailand's new military government in a statement read out by Sonthi.

The monarch is believed to have tacitly approved the coup against the premier, who had endured months of protests demanding he quit amid corruption allegations.

Earlier the coup leaders banned political parties from holding meetings or from conducting any other activities, according to a statement read on national television.

"In order to maintain law and order, meetings of political parties and conducting of other political activities are banned," the statement said.

"Political gatherings of more than five people have already been banned, but political activities can resume when normalcy is restored," it said.

The coup leaders suspended the constitution and imposed martial law when they took power late Tuesday, drawing condemnation from human rights groups who have urged the military to respect basic civil liberties.

The statement also said that the office of the auditor general would remain in operation, a decision that clears the way for corruption investigations against the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The coup leader, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, said Wednesday that Thaksin could face prosecution for charges already filed against him, including complaints of corruption and vote fraud.

Thai media voiced concern yesterday over efforts by coup leaders to slap limits on press freedom as the generals mulled whether to stop them carrying expressions of public opinion.

"I want to know how free people are to express their opinions," an official from Chula radio, a university broadcaster, told the generals during a nearly two-hour meeting.

"We have many critics and academics who express their opinions on our programmes," he said, worrying that dissenting voices would be silenced.

An executive from the Modern Nine TV company worried that the military would use vague rules to crack down on the media.

"We want it to be made clear what the limits are, because different people will see things in different ways," she said.

Army officials said they wanted television stations to stop broadcasting text messages from viewers, and to stop running other expressions of public opinion.

Several Thai television stations allow viewers to send in messages from their cell phones, and then show the messages in a ticker at the bottom of the screen.

But after the meeting, General Palangoon Klaharn said the military would consider allowing TV stations just to screen the text messages before airing them.

"I will consult with my supervisor on whether SMS comments should be banned or screened before showing them," he said.

"All media still have freedom to report. The reports should follow our earlier policy and be constructive," he said.

Another spokesman for the coup leaders, Colonel Surasak Kanjanarat, urged the media to avoid "arousing the people's emotions."

"I would like to ask the media to contact our spokesmen to check information and to avoid arousing the people's emotions," he said.

The military imposed strict controls on the media Wednesday, just hours after imposing martial law and suspending the constitution. They said they would block "disinformation" deemed harmful to the military council now in control of Thailand.

"The council asks for cooperation from all types of media and media operators, as well as reporters, to report their stories accurately and constructively in order to swiftly restore normalcy to the country," the official announcement said.

The army maintained a strong presence in Thai media even before the coup, running at least two television stations and more than 120 of the country's 500 radio stations, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

"The military government must lose no time in guaranteeing the restoration of basic freedoms, especially complete press freedom," the group said in a statement.

Thaksin quits politics.