The demonstrators marched for two hours to reach the air force base in Udon Thani province, 460 kilometers (290 miles) northeast of Bangkok, to stage their protest, said police Maj Gen Krit Patla.

"We want the Thai government to review the use of the air base in Udon Thani by Singaporean troops," said a protest leader, Chareon Mookakornphan.

He accused Singapore of showing disrespect for the Thai government by allowing ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to give interviews to the media there that criticized the Thai government.

Chareon also said that Singapore should issue a public apology.

The protesters were members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, an ad-hoc group that staged months of protests last year demanding that Thaksin step down for alleged corruption and abuse of power. Their protest help lead to a bloodless September coup d'etat that ousted Thaksin.

The Thai government halted a high-level meeting with Singaporean officials as a sign of protest after Singapore allowed the toppled prime minister to meet with government ministers and give media interviews last month.

Nationalistic sentiment directed against Singapore heightened last week after Thai army commander Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin publicly said that he wanted to take back Shin Satellite - Thailand's sole private satellite operator - which Thaksin's family sold to the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings, in January last year. He described its satellites as a "national asset."

Temasek purchased a controlling stake in telecoms conglomerate Shin Corp, whose subsidiaries include Shin Satellite. Shin Satellite owns five satellites, including iPStar, the world's largest commercial satellite.

The US$1.9 billion (€1.4 billion), tax-free sale caused public outrage about handing over strategic telecommunications assets to another country, and fueled the protests against Thaksin.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, who was appointed by the coup leaders to succeed Thaksin, brushed aside the demand to break the 2004 agreement which Thaksin's government signed with Singapore allowing the city-state to use air bases for training exercises for the next 15 years. The contract is subject to review every five years.

"We have no intent to do things which will affect bilateral relations with Asean countries," he said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to which both nations belong.

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