BANGKOK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Although the government's spokesman has pleaded with the military to remain in barracks, military coup rumors still spread in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon as military vehicles were reportedly seen in yard of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau.

    The Nation news network said on its website that coup rumors were widely spread Thursday with a lot of phone calls being made to several newspapers' editorial offices to check whether coup was being staged.

    The news network said that rumors were rife about a secret Anupong ultimatum that Somchai must dissolve the House before midnight Thursday or face a coup.

    A local resident told Xinhua by phone that military vehicles including tanks on Thursday afternoon were seen inside the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, which is near the Army headquarters.

    On Thursday afternoon, the government spokesman, Natthawut Saikua, announced after an urgent Cabinet meeting that the government had no intention to remove Army chief Anupong Paochinda.

    The announcement was widely understood as a bid to calm down tension between the government and the military.

    Anupong, in his capacity as head of the government's task force monitoring the crisis, on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to dissolve the House and the People's Alliance for Democracy to end its protests.