Military Coup of Thailand

[Archaic]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/19/thailand.coup.rumor/index.html

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has appeared on Thailand TV to explain the military coup which has ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his government.

Speaking Wednesday morning, Sonthi said the coup was necessary to end intense conflicts in Thailand's society that Thaksin had created.

In his brief television address, Sonthi said the coup makers had no intention to hold on to power and asked people to stay calm and render them support, The Associated Press reported.

Speaking in front of giant portraits of Thailand's king and queen, Sonthi was flanked by chiefs of the three armed services and the head of the national police.

In his first public appearance, Sonthi repeated earlier statements that the newly created Council of Administrative Reform had revoked the Constitution, AP reports.

He said Thaksin's policies had created serious rifts that needed to be healed.

The chiefs of Thailand's army, navy and air force earlier met King Bhumibol Adulyadej to declare they were taking over the country while Thaksin was in New York for a U.N. meeting.

Thaksin canceled a scheduled Tuesday evening speech to the U.N. General Assembly, a U.N. official said.

He said, however, that his government was still in control of the nation and later announced he was firing Sonthi.

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said that the supreme commander of Thailand's armed forces -- Gen. Ruengroj Mahasaranont -- would be in charge of Bangkok. Mahasaranont has made no public statement since the coup was announced.

Tanks and troops patrolled Bangkok early Wednesday after the army said the military was taking control. (Watch tanks roll through the streets of Bangkok -- 3:53)

Police were closing stores and directing traffic off Bangkok streets, residents told CNN via e-mail, but no violence was reported.

The coup plotters declared martial law and suspended the constitution of the Southeast Asian nation. They also declared Wednesday a holiday, with schools, banks and the country's stock market closed.

"The armed forces commander and the national police commander have successfully taken over Bangkok and the surrounding area in order to maintain peace and order. There has been no struggle," the coup announcement said, according to The Associated Press. "We ask for the cooperation of the public and ask your pardon for the inconvenience."

Sonthi, who is known to be close to Thailand's revered constitutional monarch, will serve as acting prime minister, army spokesman Col. Akarat Chitroj said, according to The AP. Sonthi is a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated nation, AP reported.

Foreign news networks, including CNN, from which Thailand residents were able to monitor the beginning of the coup, were later removed from the country's cable systems.

Only one local station was broadcasting and it was showing pictures of the country's king, according to an e-mail CNN received from Nio Paul, who identified himself as an American living in Thailand.

On a television station remaining under his government's control Tuesday, Thaksin declared a state of emergency from New York.

Troops on the streets of the Thai capital had yellow ribbons on their weapons, a sign of loyalty to the nation's king, to whom the coup plotters proclaimed their loyalty.

Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai told AP that Thaksin had forced the military to act.

"As politicians, we do not support any kind of coup, but during the past five years, the government of Thaksin created several conditions that forced the military to stage the coup. Thaksin has caused the crisis in the country," he told The AP.

At least four tanks and a number of armored vehicles were stationed around the royal palace in Bangkok, CNN's Dan Rivers reported.

Soldiers apparently were setting up roadblocks, and what appeared to be members of the royal guard surrounded the palace.

It was unclear if the soldiers were loyal to the government or to those attempting to seize power.

Two tanks were parked outside the government headquarters, which houses Thaksin's office.

About a dozen soldiers patrolled around the Erawan Hotel in the city's business district, AP reported.

There have been 17 coups in Thailand since World War II, and rumors of an 18th have been circulating around Bangkok in recent weeks as Thaksin battled considerable pressure to step down. This is the first coup since 1992, AP reported.
International reaction

International reaction to the coup was muted largely because details of the situation were scarce. John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cut short a meeting at the United Nations to try to get more information from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.

"We think it's important, in the short term, that we have peace in the streets in Bangkok, and that their constitutional processes be upheld," Bolton said.

And U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said "This is not a practice to be encouraged."

"Over the past decade or so, they have established a solid democracy and institutions under the leadership of the king," Annan told reporters. "I'm sure they will be able to restore that institution and go back to a democratic system as soon as possible. "

Thaksin decided Monday night to reschedule his speech to the U.N. General Assembly for Tuesday night and return to Bangkok afterward, according to U.N. officials. He originally had been scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday.

Though he canceled the Tuesday speech, it was not clear when Thaksin would return to Thailand.

Elections in Thailand are scheduled for November after the country's constitutional court ruled that a vote in April was unconstitutional.

Thaksin had called for the April elections, three years early, after opponents accused the billionaire leader of abusing the country's system of checks and balances and bending government policy to benefit his family's business.

Some Thais gathered outside Government House in Bangkok to get pictures of themselves with the tanks and troops, AP reported.

The coup caused little stir in Bangkok's popular tourist districts, where foreigners packed beer bars and cabarets just a few miles from where the tanks were posted, AP reported.

CNN's Richard Roth, Dan Rivers and Ellen Rose contributed to this report

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[Zhen Lin]

This is most disturbing. A military coup... well, that doesn't guarantee reform, and even if there is reform, it is not guaranteed to be for the better.

 

[Archaic]

Looking at the history of similar coups in Thailand, it looks like they've had a good history with them. To the point where there's a tradition that, if the King doesn't give permission after the fact for the coup, then the coup leaders publically say they were wrong, call off their forces, and resign from whatever official positions they held.

It seems from the more recent news however that the King has given his permission, and that they'll go on to have the elections in October as had originally been scheduled anyway. It seems that the current government itself was only a caretaker government, after the election in April was ruled to be invalid by their Constitutional Court.

 

[ChaosRocket]

XD the military staged a coup to take over the government and then actually said "Pardon the inconvienence"?

I'm not really clear on why they had a coup if there were just going to be elections in November anyways.

 

[Masato]

What worries me is that those new leaders don't stick to their promises and decide to establish a military dictatorship. Or they restore democracy but continue to control the government.