HM THE KING went on national television in Thailand at 8pm tonight in the midst of divisions that have beset his country. He called on every Thai to behave calmly and to consider Thailand first.

''Please remember to do the right thing,'' he told his subjects. ''This is very important.''

With more than a hundred newly-appointed justices from around the country assembled in Bangkok, the King told them their duty was to uphold the law. ''You must be role models for others throughout Thailand,'' the King told them.

''If the country remains peaceful, it means that the people who uphold the law are doing their job properly.''

The King talked for about 14 minutes. Aged 82, the King has been receiving treatment in a Bangkok hospital since September last year.

His appearance on national television was a sign that the political stand-off has reached a new level of national and international concern.

Earlier, the yellow shirt leaders of the Peoples Alliance for Democracy said that if the army could not stop the red shirts, then they were prepared to step in. The declaration carried portents of a political confrontation that threatened more violence in Thailand at any moment.

While Phuket remains a safe, peaceful destination for tourists, the same cannot be said for northern provinces of Thailand where red shirt supporters are now imposing road blocks of the kind that are usually only imposed by police, the army, and other legitimate authorities.

Pressure is mounting on the embattled government of Abhisit Vejjajiva to take decisive action, something it has failed to do successfully since the red protests began with banner-waving and symbolic blood-letting in Bangkok from March 12.

One attempt to clear the streets of the capital ended in a bloodbath on April 10, with more than 20 deaths. It was a turning point. The government acted, but achieved nothing.

The longer the protest has been allowed to run, the more the reds have assumed the upper hand. The red leaders in Bangkok, facing a likely assault by police and troops, told their supporters to stop wearing red shirts.

The result: a situation where the government's uniformed authorities can no longer sort the good guys from the bad guys.

Even more difficult to detect are the ''watermelon'' soldiers - the rogue soldiers at all levels who appear to wear regulation green camouflage on the outside but are actually red through and through.

To hear people actually talking now about the prospect of civil war in Thailand is alarming. Yet the longer the dispute goes on, the more likely such an outcome appears to be becoming.

And so at 8pm tonight, with civil war no longer a remote prospect, HM The King went on national television.