Yingluck told supporters, via her six-million-follower Facebook page, that she wanted to avoid any possible chaos caused by a third party.

“I care for everyone, be you the people or my Facebook followers. And I don’t want any instigation, which possibly could be brought by a third party, to occur. as the security authorities have always said,” Yingluck wrote.

“So, I’d like to ask that everyone who cares for me, too, not to go to the court [Friday]. Instead, I’d like everyone to wait for the news at home so to avoid the risk posed by those having ill-intention towards the country and us.”

The former PM also said she acknowledged the compassion and all good wishes of people who were aware of her suffering. However, this time they would not be in touch closely, as they had in the past, due to the strict security measures, Yingluck wrote.

This Friday, the Supreme Court is set to hand down a final verdict over the rice-pledging cases against the former prime minister, and against her commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom in a separate case.

If convicted of malfeasance and dereliction of duty, Yingluck could face an up to 10-year jail term. She could also be liable to having to pay more than Bt35 billion lost because of alleged management failure in the implementation of the rice-subsidy policy.

Thousands of supporters are expected to show up to give Yingluck moral support. Security authorities have prepared measures to deal with the large crowd while also advising them against travelling to the court.