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19-09-2006, 11:45 PM
| #28 (permalink) |
| Thailand Travel Forum  Last Online: 09-11-2009 05:04 PM Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,317
  | Coup rumours in Thailand Agencies Tuesday, September 19, 2006 20:50 IST  Email Article  Print Article Most Emailed Articles  RSS Feed Most Viewed Articles  Search This Site Updated at 9.04 pm BANGKOK: Ten military tanks headed on Tuesday toward the Government House here and blocked traffic amid rumours of a coup. Army television broadcast images of the royal family and songs associated in the past with military coups. Government officials said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in the middle of a political crisis fomented by a street campaign against him, planned to return from New York on Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled. They gave no reason. Thaksin has ordered the troops not to move illegally, ordered a state of emergency and sacked the army chief. Even though Thailand's last military coup was 15 years ago, when Bangkok motorists spotted tanks rolling down the street last week, many thought the army was up to its old tricks once again. “I received more than 10 calls from people saying they had seen several tanks on the street and asking in a shaky voice if there was a coup,” said Jakrapan Kunanyatirakul of FM 91 traffic radio. “We called the army for an explanation and the answer was it was troops returning from up-country exercises.” With Thailand mired in a political crisis now in its ninth month and tension escalating between the army, police, palace and government, the callers could not be accused of being paranoid. Military chiefs vow the army will stay out of the mess left by April's annulled election, but with 23 coups or attempted coups during 74 years of on-off democracy, many view their protestations with scepticism. “Although the chances of success now are much less, it's almost impossible to dismiss fears of a coup here since we still have many politically active soldiers,” said security analyst Panitan Wattanayakorn at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. While Thailand may have moved on from the time when men in uniform sat squarely in Government House, army meddling in politics -- and politicians meddling in the army -- remains the order of the day. In a clear attack on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in June, top royal adviser Prem Tinsulanonda, one of many former generals turned prime minister, donned his old cavalry uniform to tell cadets their duty was to serve the crown, not the government. The previous month, shortly after April's inconclusive election, army commander-in-chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin waded into the fray by letting it be known publicly that revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej was upset by the political mess. In late August, after police arrested a junior army officer near Thaksin's home in a car packed with explosives, Thaksin immediately sacked General Pallop Pinmanee as deputy director of the shadowy Internal Security Operations Command. Pallop contemptuously dismissed any involvement in the plot, saying: “If I had wanted to kill him, the Prime Minister would not have escaped.” Critics accuse Thaksin of staging the attempt to win sympathy from voters. The alleged bomb plot followed the surprise reassignment in July of more than 100 middle-ranking officers -- many of them seen as Thaksin allies -- from key infantry posts in the capital. Some analysts saw the army commander-in-chief''s reshuffle as a pre-emptive move against a pro-Thaksin putsch, given the increasingly high stakes shadow boxing between the army palace establishment and Thaksin, a populist politician and former policeman who made a fortune in the telecoms industry. Others read the opposite: the military was clearing the way for intervention against Thaksin. “There is no unity among the armed forces now,” political scientist Prayad Hongtongkhum said. “But many unit commanders realise coups are outdated and will only make matters worse.” |
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19-09-2006, 11:46 PM
| #30 (permalink) |
| Elite Member Last Online: 27-11-2006 09:00 AM Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,898
 | Palpable panic in this household. Mobile phones cranked up and everyone watching the non-news on Thai TV. One moment I'm helping with math homework the next we're all in an uncertain world.... |
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| Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Coup in Thailand | This thread | Refback | 20-09-2006 08:37 AM |
| Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Coup d'état in Thailand | This thread | Refback | 20-09-2006 08:34 AM |
| Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Coup in Thailand | This thread | Refback | 20-09-2006 08:34 AM |
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