Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says she will next week invite all stakeholders to join a political reform assembly aimed at ending political conflicts.
She made the announcement on television channels 9 and 3 Friday night following a report that she would propose discussions to try to resolve the political divide.
On Facebook, Ms Yingluck said the government will ask representatives of all sides in the political conflict to thrash out their differences, discuss ways for political reform and map out the future of the country.
She said she would propose sustainable solutions to the political divide with a constructive and participatory process involving all sides to put their differences behind them.
The forum will bring together all sides including representatives of the government, all political parties, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the Senate, independent organisations, the private sector and academics. They will be invited to come up with a framework for the country's democracy to suit the conditions of Thai society and win recognition from foreign countries, Ms Yingluck said.
Ms Yingluck said Friday after returning to Bangkok from her trip to Africa that she was worried about protests against the amnesty bill and said protesters should adhere to peaceful and legal means.
She urged all parties involved to discuss their stance on the amnesty bill in parliament.
"We have talked about the issue for two years. I would like parliament to be a forum for representatives of all parties, including the people, to talk," Ms Yingluck said.
However, PAD spokesman Parnthep Pourpongpan said the PAD would not join the forum as he believed that Ms Yingluck's move was only aimed at quelling the anti-bill movement.
"The offer was not made with sincerity. If the government wants to end the conflict around a table, it must discard all amnesty bills before initiating any talk of forum," he said.
A Pheu Thai source said the party had discussed the idea to form what it called a "political reform assembly" for a while and the council would bring together stakeholders to discuss the amnesty and charter change proposals.
Meanwhile, the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) is trying to hose down rumours of a possible coup and violence during protests tomorrow against the amnesty bill.
The bill is scheduled to be deliberated by the House next Wednesday.
The agency was responding to widespread rumours on the internet and social networks that violence would break out, and a coup launched, on the day the amnesty bill is considered by lawmakers. Some messages recommend people hoard food and cash.
Isoc spokesman Col Banpot Poolpian said yesterday there was "no evidence of an abnormal situation".
If the situation remained peaceful, the government would lift the Internal Security Act, imposed to cope with the protest threat, before Aug 10.
The Isoc spokesman dismissed calls online for people to stock up on food and cash before the protest starts.
"The rumour was released to create panic and actually government authorities would not exercise the Internal Security Act to any degree that would cause people trouble," he said.
The decree would be imposed in Dusit, Phra Nakhon and Pomprap Sattruphai districts of Bangkok until Aug 10 as the Pitak Siam group plans its protest from tomorrow.
Col Banpot said the public has the right to demonstrate but authorities had to restrict their access to prevent conflicts among rival protesters.
Col Banpot also said the Isoc was looking into a claim by Dr Weng Tojirakarn, a list MP of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and a core leader of the red-shirt UDD, that protesters planned to capture the prime minister and the House Speaker to prevent the House from considering an amnesty bill. He ruled out any possibility of a kidnapping.
A military source said army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has put over 30 companies on standby in case police seek help in handling protesters.