The protesters, sporting yellow banners around their heads reading "junta get out" and waving flags bearing similar slogans, gathered in a rainy Sanam Luang plaza in central Bangkok to demand an end to the military government.

"We plan daily demonstrations until at least the 24th of June," said Nattawut Saikuar, a rally organiser and supporter of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in the coup last September.

Organisers at Sunday's rally claimed that 2,000 people turned out to demonstrate in a water-logged Sanam Luang, while police estimated a crowd of about 1,400.

On Saturday night, at least 6,000 people gathered in the plaza, apparently spurred on by a court ruling Wednesday that dissolved Thai Rak Thai (TRT), the twice-elected political party formed by Thaksin.

It was biggest display of defiance against the junta since last year's coup, and Nattawut said it had prompted the rally organisers to change their name from "People's Television" to the "Democracy Alliance to Expel Dictatorship."

"It was the first time we opened it up for the general public who are against the dictatorship, and there was a good response," said Nattawut, who claimed that 10,000 people joined Saturday's rally.

"They filled half of Sanam Luang -- when we fill Sanam Luang, we will move to seek an answer from the junta leaders," he declared.

On Wednesday, Thailand's Constitutional Tribunal disbanded TRT and barred the ousted premier and 110 senior party leaders from politics for five years after it found the party guilty of election law violations.