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More than 10,000 "Red Shirt" supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra rallied Friday as organisers said that one million Thais had signed a petition asking for a royal pardon for the fugitive former premier.

Thousand of ''Red Shirts'' supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra rally in a park in Bangkok in January, 2009. More than 10,000 "Red Shirt" supporters rallied again as organisers said that one million Thais had signed a petition asking for a royal pardon for the fugitive former premier.

The protest in Bangkok took place despite warnings from the government that a pardon could only be sought by Thaksin himself or by his relatives. Billionaire Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

"There are more than one million people who have signed their names to support for Thaksin. I hope more and more people will show up before we close down at midnight tonight," protest leader Jatuporn Prompan told AFP.

Police said more than 10,000 people had gathered at the Sanam Luang parade ground in downtown Bangkok by late afternoon. Nearly 3,000 police were at the rally site, police commander Lieutenant General Worapong Chiewpreecha said.

Thaksin fled Thailand last August to escape a two-year jail term for corruption. His backers aim to gather the signatures to present to the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who came to power in December, on Thursday warned Thaksin's supporters against signing the petition.

"The royal pardon should be his (Thaksin's) own individual initiative or that of his family members and it's not reached that stage because Thaksin has not yet served the sentence," Abhisit told reporters.

He said that those behind the document were "manipulating innocent people."

State-owned television is to run a segment with a legal expert late Friday to remind the public that it was improper to involve the monarchy in politics.

Thaksin said in a March interview that he had written three letters to the king seeking to be allowed home.

The Red Shirts launched the campaign last month following months of sometimes violent street protests and political conflict in Thailand between supporters and foes of Thaksin.

Thaksin supporters forced the cancellation of a major Asian summit in April and then rioted for two days in Bangkok.

Twice-elected Thaksin still enjoys huge support among Thailand's poor, particularly in rural northern parts of the country, but is hated by the Bangkok-based elite.

Thaksin is currently being tried in absentia on a separate corruption charge relating to 2.2 billion dollars of funds that were frozen by an anti-graft body soon after the coup.

Thailand's royal family is treated with almost religious adulation and protected by strict defamation laws.