Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha can be an adviser or member of a political party because no law forbids it, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said.
The indication of Gen Prayut's possible plans came as the government revealed that army teams have now surveyed the needs of 70% of people nationwide under the Thai Niyom Yangyuen project.
Mr Wissanu said on Tuesday there was no law preventing Gen Prayut joining a political party, or becoming an adviser to a party.
However, Gen Prayut could not run in an election unless he resigned as prime minister, Mr Wissanu said.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said army teams implementing the Thai Niyom Yangyuen sustainability project had surveyed the needs of people in about 56,000 villages nationwide in the past month. Residents had been called to meetings in about 70% of the villages to be covered under the project, he said.
About 6 million people had attended and most of them expressed the desire for better public utilities - especially drinking water - and roads, Gen Anupong said.
A report summarising the meetings would be submitted to the Interior Ministry by March 20. Ministries would then allocate budgets to implement projects to meet their needs, the interior minister said.
Committees in the villages would also implement projects. Those that would generate income for people and support people's empowerment would be approved, Gen Anupong said.