Army mounts coup in Thailand

[falcon]

Army mounts coup in Thailand

By Sebastien Berger and Leon Schadeberg in Bangkok
(Filed: 20/09/2006)

Troops and tanks guarded the streets of Bangkok last night after the army chief launched a coup while the billionaire prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was out of the country.

Lt-Gen Sondhi Boonyaratkalin said he was acting on behalf of the nation's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

There were fears that clashes could break out between army factions, some loyal to Mr Thaksin and others to the king. People on the outskirts of Bangkok said they saw 35 lorries each with 10 armed members of the Queen's Regiment, the equivalent of the Brigade of Guards, travelling towards the city centre.
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Tanks guarded the entrance to Government House, a sprawling Italianate building, and two others were stationed nearby as soldiers lined up along the walls of the compound.

A general said that the deputy prime minister and the defence minister, two of Mr Thaksin's closest allies, had been arrested.The Foreign Office advised Britons to avoid central Bangkok and to remain alert to the possibilities of major demonstrations but did not advise against travel to Thailand.

A spokesman said that 20,000 Britons were registered in Thailand and 750,000 visited the country each year.

A witness to what seemed like a classic coup described the atmosphere as "very calm", as about 100 civilians milled around "smiling and taking photographs". Mr Thaksin, 57, a telecoms tycoon who came close to acquiring Liverpool Football Club two years ago, has caused resentment in the army by making hand-picked appointments and is accused of policy failures which ignited a separatist insurgency in the predominantly Muslim south. A senior military officer said on television and radio that the constitution, cabinet and parliament had all been suspended and that martial law was in force in Bangkok.

He said that a council for political reform, with the king as head of state, had seized power in the capital and neighbouring provinces.

"There has been no struggle," he said. "We ask for the co-operation of the public and ask your pardon for the inconvenience." The statement emphasised that the coup was temporary and that a commission would be set up to decide on political reforms and oversee an election. Officials said that Gen Sondhi and other military leaders had met the king at the royal palace, apparently to work out an interim government. Gen Sondhi said: "The council found it necessary to seize power as of now."

Mr Thaksin, whose opponents accuse him of corruption and abuse of power, was in New York, where he was due to address the United Nations General Assembly. Television news showed him saying that he was sacking Gen Sondhi and declaring a state of emergency in Bangkok. He ordered troops to follow only "legal orders" but the screens went blank as he was speaking. Most inter-national television stations, including the BBC and CNN, went off the air and the country's six public broadcasters flashed a continual message that forces loyal to the king had taken control "to maintain law and order". Images of the king were shown repeatedly.

Thailand has been in crisis for months. At times, as many as 100,000 people have demonstrated to demand the removal of Mr Thaksin. In April he called and won a snap election but the result was annulled after allegations of cheating by his Thai Rak Thai Party. He has been serving as a caretaker prime minister since then.

Thailand has a long history of military coups since the Second World War, but the last was 14 years ago, when dozens died as security forces opened fire on protesters.

Although last night's events appeared bloodless and the capital remained peaceful, the situation represents a climax to a power struggle that has been building up for years between Mr Thaksin and Thailand's elite.

By appealing to voters with populist measures such as heavily subsidised health care and cheap loans, and winning unprecedented absolute majorities, Mr Thaksin has destroyed the consensus arrangements of the past, in which coalition governments ensured that the spoils of power were shared between different factions.

He was condemned internationally for an anti-drugs campaign in which suspected police-run death squads murder thousands of mostly small time drug dealers or users.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/20/wthai20.xml

[PanBear]

I wanted to point out a snippet of an AP article

Sondhi, who is known to be close to Thailand's revered constitutional monarch, will serve as acting prime minister, army spokesman Col. Akarat Chitroj said. Sondhi, well-regarded within the military, is a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated nation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/...re_as/thailand

The fact that Sondhi is a Muslim makes this event worth keeping an eye on.

Sorry, if this has been pointed out elsewhere. Still trying to find my way around. Thanks for having me here.

[Ace]

After more than 2000 are slaughtered they get it--

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/25/asia/thai.php

Thai generals ask former assassin to be security adviser

By Thomas Fuller
Published: May 25, 2007



BANGKOK: Frustrated by their inability to pacify a Muslim insurgency and concerned about rising impatience toward their rule, Thailand's generals have named a former commando and self-described assassin as their top security adviser.

The appointment this month of Pallop Pinmanee, a retired general notorious for his harsh tactics but admired for his survival instincts, appears to be an acknowledgement that the military-backed government's conciliatory approach toward Muslim insurgents in southern Thailand has failed.

"The way to solve the problem in the south is to get the people on your side," Pallop said in an interview this week. But if the violence continues, he said, the military should carry out "search and destroy" missions against the insurgents. "If we cannot make them surrender, then we have no choice - we have to destroy them."

Pallop's appointment also seems to signal that the generals who overthrew the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September, and who have trodden lightly against their political opponents so far, are contemplating harsher and more repressive actions toward dissent.

Pallop said Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the general who led the September coup, asked him to serve as an adviser during a round of golf in March. The two men once served together in a special warfare unit.