Thailand’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was overthrown 24 hours ago in a bloodless coup.
History is in the making here in the Thai capital.
And while the images and stories flowing out of Thailand might portray an unstable city, a strange sense of calm has descended upon the normally frenetic Bangkok. The streets, which typically overflow with surging traffic, were surprisingly clear today. People are going about their daily business, but perhaps doing so more quietly than usual. Schools and most offices were closed today; reports are that they’ll remain shuttered tomorrow.
I was in Kuala Lumpur yesterday but flew into Bangkok at 6 p.m. local time this evening; during the 30-minute ride from the airport to my apartment, which is located in central Bangkok, I witnessed a solitary military truck carting soldiers through the city. More military forces are stationed elsewhere.
The big developments today were that the coup’s leader has stepped forward. The man now in charge of Thailand is General Sonthi Boonyaratglin. And, crucially, the Thai King has endorsed the country’s new leadership. Other developments:
— an interim government will be chosen within two weeks;
— Sonthi says democracy will not be restored for a year;
— a new constitution will be drafted;
— elections might be held in October, 2007
Wikipedia has a nice summary of last night’s events:
The 2006 Thailand coup d’état took place on 19 September 2006, when members of the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d’état against the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup, which is Thailand’s first in fifteen years, followed a lengthy political crisis involving Thaksin and political opponents, occurring less than a month before elections were scheduled to be held, on October 15. The military junta cancelled the upcoming elections, abrogated the Constitution, dissolved Parliament, banned political protests, declared martial law, arrested Cabinet members, and blacked out all local and international news broadcasts in Thailand. No casualties have been reported. Protesters, including a hunger striker, have been arrested.
The IHT’s Tom Fuller has a good story:
Leader of Coup in Thailand Sets Timetable
CNN:
Thailand coup leader vows new PM in weeks
The Guardian‘s Tim Footman:
Coup? What coup?
The Asia Sentinel’s Dan Ten Kate and Ismail Wolff quote a political analyst as saying this was not a coup, but rather an attempted coup and then a counter-coup.
Elsewhere:
— Channel News Asia’s Thailand in Crisis page;
— Photos of the coup from a Thai Navy Web site;
— Jotman has some photos of the action;
And, finally, some blogs linking to my coverage here:
— Instapundit;
— The Washington Post’s Express (today’s print edition and yesterday’s blog);
— Metafilter comments;
— The Irish Trojan;
— Publius Pundit;
— Gridskipper
More tomorrow. Stay tuned…