Thailand Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont (R) stands with newly appointed Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula before a group photo session, as the new cabinet prepares to be sworn in by King Bhumibol Adulyadej in a ceremony, at the Government House in Bangkok yesterday. -Xinhua/Reuters

Thailand's newly appointed interim cabinet was sworn in yesterday before King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a necessary step required by the constitutional monarchy that runs the Kingdom to put the post-coup cabinet in place.

The 26 cabinet ministers plus Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont,who had been sworn in as Thailand's 24th PM on Oct. 1, arrived at the Chitralada Palace, the King's present residence in Bangkok, on Monday afternoon to attend the swear in ceremony, according to Thai media reports.

The King told the new cabinet to work with "honesty" to bring the country out of crisis, help people affected by the current flooding disaster, and to restore the country's good image among the international communities, new Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtat was quoted by news network The Nation as saying after being sworn in.

Chief government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp earlier announced that the King has approved the cabinet line-up late Sunday night.

According to Yongyuth, the first cabinet meeting is to be held Tuesday morning, in which ministers will discuss division of work between the two newly appointed deputy prime ministers, Pridiyathorn Devakula, the finance minister, and Kosit Panpiemras,the industry minister.

New government policies would also be discussed at Tuesday's meeting, said the spokesman.

The new cabinet will exist for about one year, pending the completion of a new constitution, according to the draft by the Council for National Security, the military authority body led by army commander Sonthi Boonyaratkalin and other generals who staged the Sept. 19 coup to oust former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. When the new Constitution was put in place, a general election will be held,hopefully in October 2007.