Sudarat said livestock officials have been recruiting volunteers from Bangkok farmers and will train them to look for bird flu in assigned communities, Thai News Agency reported.

She said the authorities expected to train some 7,500 volunteers within this month and would deploy one of them in every area at risk in Bangkok to carry out a close monitoring for bird flu.

The minister, after visiting some poultry farms in Bangkok, expressed her concern regarding the conventional way of raising chickens that could pose a threat to human health.

"I am worried as chickens live in close contact with farmers and villagers who keep hens, fighting cocks or pet chickens," she said.

Sudarat said the government planned to close cockfighting rings in the Thai capital, but would allow services that carry out blood tests for bird flu virus in poultry every month to continue.