BBC:
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid reports of a coup attempt.
Soldiers have entered Government House and tanks have moved into position around the building.
Mr Thaksin, who is at the UN in New York, announced he had removed the chief of the army and had ordered troops not to “move illegally”.
An army-owned TV station is showing images of the royal family and songs linked in the past with military coups.
Correspondents say that there have been low-level rumours of a possible coup for weeks.
Thai media say that two army factions appear to be heading for a clash, with one side backing the prime minister and the other side backing a rebel army chief.
CNN:
Tanks have been seen rolling through the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday amid rumors of an attempted coup, witnesses tell CNN.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — currently at the U.N. headquarters in New York — went on a government-owned TV station and declared a state of emergency, The Associated Press reported.
According to officials at the Thai mission at the United Nations, Thaksin has moved up his speech to the General Assembly to Tuesday night and will return to Bangkok after his address.
He had been scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday.
Thaksin has been under considerable pressure to step down. Elections in Thailand are scheduled for November after the country’s constitutional court ruled April’s vote was unconstitutional.
Thaksin had called for the elections in April, 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.
AP:
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared a state of emergency Tuesday night from New York as rumors of a military coup swept the capital. An army-owned television station suspended regular programming and played patriotic songs.
Shinawatra went on a government-owned TV station to declare the state of emergency.
“The prime minister with the approval of the Cabinet declares serious emergency law in Bangkok from now on,” Thaksin said on Channel 9 from New York, where he was attending the U.N. General Assembly.
He said he was ordering the transfer of the nation’s army chief to work in the prime minister’s office, effectively suspending him from his military duties.
Tanks surrounded Thailand’s Government House on Tuesday and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid signs of the first attempted coup in the southeast Asian nation in 15 years.
“I declare Bangkok under a severe state of emergency,” Thaksin said in a voice broadcast on Thai television.Thaksin, in New York at a United Nations summit, ordered troops not to “move illegally”, and told armed forces chiefs to report to acting Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya.
At least 20 soldiers entered the Government House building, according to reporters inside.
Army television broadcast images of the royal family and songs associated in the past with military coups.
Government officials said Thaksin, in the middle of a political crisis fomented by a street campaign against him, planned to return from New York early on Thursday, a day earlier than originally scheduled.
Even though Thailand’s last military coup was 15 years ago, speculation about military intervention has been rife, with motorists calling traffic radio stations last week after tanks were spotted rolling down streets of the capital.
That proved to be a false alarm, with the army saying it was merely soldiers returning from exercises.
A general election scheduled for October was postponed last week, probably until November.
(All emphasis mine.)
Developing…