BANGKOK?Thailand's widely revered king warned that the country could collapse if its feuding political factions do not unite, as the government braced for fresh street protests, reports said Saturday.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, made a rare speech to an audience at his seaside palace late Friday that was later broadcast on national television and radio and reported by Thai-language newspapers.

"Recently I feel that our country could fail, because nobody is working in harmony. They are competing with each other and no one understands what the other is doing," the king said.

"I want to assure you that if everybody who is competent and has good intentions works together then we can make our country truly prosperous. So I ask all of you to cooperate, because if you don't our country will fall," he said.

"Our country will not collapse if everybody works together, especially all knowledgeable people," he said.

They were the king's first public comments since making a similar call for unity while swearing in Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in December. He failed to make his traditional birthday eve speech the same month, citing poor health.

His speech came less than a week after Thailand's so-called "Red Shirt" protesters submitted a 3.5-million-name petition seeking a royal pardon for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and fled the country last year to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption. His supporters were toppled from government in December after months of protests by rival "Yellow Shirts."

Abhisit says the petition is unlawful. His government has faced a string of protests by the Red Shirts, including mass riots in April which derailed a key Asian summit and forced him to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok.

The pro-Thaksin protest movement has called for fresh demonstrations on August 30 to press Abhisit to quit and dissolve parliament to pave the way for new elections.