UPDATE:
— 2Bangkok.com:
Sources say troops are at the Communications Authority of Thailand. This means the military can turn off mobile phones and the internet if necessary.
— There are also reports that cable channels are no longer being broadcast in Bangkok.
— CNN:
Tanks and troops patrolled Bangkok early Wednesday after the chief of Thailand’s army said the military was taking control of the country.
The coup against the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is being led by Thai army chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin and Thailand’s opposition Party of Democratic Reform.
The coup plotters declared martial law and suspended the constitution of the Southeast Asian nation.
Thaksin, in New York to address the United Nations, declared a state of emergency Tuesday and said his government was still in control of the country.
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.
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.
— The New York Times’s Seth Mydans and Tom Fuller weigh in:
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand announced on television that he was declaring a state of emergency, as army troops took up positions in the city and rumors circulated that a coup was in progress.
Rumors of a coup swept Bangkok today as the Thai military blocked the area around Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s office with tanks.
Two armored personnel carriers, three humvees and a dozen heavily armed soldiers blocked the road to the prime minister’s office at 11 P.M. in pouring rain.
Speaking from New York, where he is on a visit, Mr. Thaksin said, “The prime minister, with the approval of the cabinet, declares serious emergency law in Bangkok from now on.”
According to wire-service translations of his remarks, he said he was ordering the transfer of the army chief to work in the prime minister’s office, effectively relieving him of command.
Bangkok was filled with rumors of a coup and television stations played old newsreel footage as word spread that an announcement would be made.
Later in the evening, according to 2bangkok.com, an Internet news site, all television and radio stations played an announcement declaring that a new regime was being installed with King Bhumibol Adulyadej as its head, and saying that the army and national police had taken control of Bangkok without opposition.
— More liveblogging to report: Knife Tricks, by Karl Lukacs in Chiang Mai; PubliusPundit; TownHallBlog; PajamasMedia; StickmanBangkok; Thailand.blogs.com; MetaFilter discussion; Alpha_Binary at reddit.