Thailand's junta chief said on Tuesday he would lift martial law but only after replacing it with a new order retaining sweeping powers for the military.
Critics said the move would "deepen dictatorship" in the kingdom.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said he had asked the ailing 87-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej for permission to lift the controversial law, which would then be replaced with special security measures.
The former army chief imposed martial law and seized power last May following the ousting of Yingluck Shinawatra's democratically elected government after months of often violent street protests.
It was the latest twist in a decade of political conflict broadly pitting a Bangkok-based middle class and royalist elite -- backed by parts of the military and judiciary -- against pro-Shinawatra urban working-class voters and farmers from the country's north.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Prayut said a new order to replace martial law would be "issued very soon".
Junta officials said the measures, which have yet to be fully defined, would create a "better atmosphere" in the kingdom, where dissent has been strongly suppressed since the military takeover.
But human rights groups expressed alarm that an executive order could allow Prayut to wield even greater powers.
Major General Sunsern Kaewkumnerd, a junta spokesman, told reporters Prayut felt the decision was necessary because "foreign countries were concerned over our use of martial law".
Some businesses and tour operators have also called for the controversial law to be lifted.
A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Bangkok said they would welcome the lifting of martial law if it led "to the full restoration of civil liberties".
Under the law the army has been able to prosecute those accused of national security and royal defamation offences in military courts with no right of appeal.
The media, meanwhile, has been muzzled while political gatherings of more than five people are banned.
Military to retain key powers
In his first public comments on what might replace martial law, Prayut clearly indicated that the military would retain significant powers.
The former army chief said he would use Article 44 of the junta's interim constitution to issue a new order protecting Thailand's security.
The article grants Prayut power to make executive orders on national security issues without having to go through the military-stacked parliament.
Prayut said military courts would still be used for security offences but convictions could now be appealed to higher tribunals.
Security forces would continue to be able to make arrests without a court warrant, he added.
Prayut did not say, however, whether cases under Thailand's royal defamation law -- one of the world's strictest -- would continue to be prosecuted through military courts, or whether the current ban on political gatherings would be lifted.
A joint statement signed by Thai Lawyers for Human Rights and seven other rights groups warned that using Article 44 would grant Prayut "absolute powers... over the legislative, the administrative and the judiciary".
"The world won't be fooled. This is a deepening of dictatorship," added Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch.
But Puangthong Pawakapan, a Thai politics expert at Chulalongkorn University, said lifting martial law might alleviate military excesses in the rural north where support for the Shinawatras is strongest.
"These abuses in the provinces, hopefully, should be lessened once the law is lifted," she told AFP.
Prayut has vowed to return power to an elected civilian government, but only once reforms to tackle corruption and curb the power of political parties are codified in a new constitution.
Critics say those reforms are aimed at neutering the power of Yingluck and her brother, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ensuring that they and parties linked to them can never take office again.
Rights groups say basic freedoms have been severely eroded since the military took over and lese majeste legislation has been increasingly used to stifle political opposition.
AFP
Tue Mar 31 2015
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said he had asked King Bhumibol Adulyadej for permission to lift the controversial law, which would then be replaced with special security measures. - File pic
[TERKINI] 3 mayat tragedi kepala air Lembah Maksina dijumpai
Pasukan mencari dan menyelamat menjumpai tiga mayat yang dipercayai lemas akibat dihanyut kepala air di Lembah Maksina dekat Lahad Datu.
Status arahan lanjut kes bella ditetapkan 20 Mei
Mahkamah Majistret Batu Pahat menetapkan 20 Mei depan bagi mendapatkan status arahan lanjut dan juga izin berhubung kes seorang lelaki yang didakwa membunuh teman wanitanya, Mila Sharmila Samsusah atau Bella dipindahkan ke Mahkamah Tinggi.
YouTube uji penggunaan AI bantu beri ilham kandungan video kepada penerbit
Melalui ciri baharu ini, ia menggunakan sokongan kecerdasan buatan dalam memberikan serta menjana ilham video seterusnya untuk dihasilkan.
AWANI Ringkas: TH pastikan 31,600 jemaah haji berpeluang ziarah Raudah
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Projek naik taraf SMV Bintulu kepada kolej 42 peratus siap - Nanta Linggi
Projek menaik taraf Sekolah Menengah Vokasional Bintulu kepada Kolej Vokasional Bintulu bernilai RM21.5 juta dijadual siap menjelang Jun 2025.
Lawatan Xi kukuhkan 60 tahun hubungan China-Perancis
Presiden China Xi Jinping tiba di Paris pada Ahad dalam rangka lawatan ke Perancis di atas jemputan Presiden Perancis Emmanuel Macron.
Bursa Malaysia dibuka lebih tinggi, jejak prestasi positif Wall Street
Pada 9.06 pagi, indeks petunjuk utama FBM KLCI naik 4.79 mata kepada 1,594.38 daripada 1,589.59 yang dicatat pada Jumaat lepas.
Pulau Aman dijadikan Kampung Angkat Madani JPA dengan peruntukan RM2.5 juta
Sebanyak RM2.5 juta diperuntukkan bagi pelaksanaan program Kampung Angkat Madani kelolaan Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) di Pulau Aman.
Tawaran jet pejuang KAAN Turki untuk tingkat pertahanan udara Malaysia
Turki sedia bekerjasama dengan Malaysia dalam projek pertahanan untuk kepentingan kedua-dua negara dan bersedia menawarkan jet pejuang generasi kelimanya, 'KAAN.'
Jenayah: Polis tumpaskan sindiket dadah utara Perak
Ketua Polis Perak, Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri berkata, polis turut menahan seorang nelayan berusia 41 tahun dan pembantu kedai makan berusia 47 tahun bersama dadah yang dianggarkan bernilai lebih RM262,000.