Holy cats! Thailand in chaos after coup!

[DealMonkey]

Breaking news! Definitely a shake-up in the works for Thailand...

Thai army chief leads coup while prime minister away
BANGKOK, Thailand (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. (Watch tanks roll through the streets of Bangkok -- 3:53)

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.

It was unclear if the soldiers were loyal to the government or to those attempting to seize power.

Two tanks were parked outside the government headquarters, which houses Thaksin's office.

There have been no reports of violence.

Rumors have been swirling in the Thai capital in recent weeks that a coup d'etat was being planned.

Thaksin, who has been under considerable pressure to step down, decided Monday night to reschedule his speech to the U.N. General Assembly for Tuesday night and return to Bangkok afterward, according to U.N. officials. He originally had been scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday.

Elections in Thailand are scheduled for November after the country's constitutional court ruled that a vote in April was unconstitutional.

Thaksin had called for the April elections, 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.

Thailand has seen dozens of government coups since the end of World War II.

Linkage

 

[BrownTown]

am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

Huh? How do you figure?

Edit: Oh you think this is Taiwan? Ill be nice and only laugh a little

 

[tommywishbone]

Thailand has oil?

 

[alchemize]

Thailand != Taiwan...

This sucks, I was hoping to go to Thailand this summer.

 

[d3n]

Prime Minister Thaksin of Thailand is at the UN right now. I wonder if he'll ever return to his homeland.

 

[jman19]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

Uhh, what does Taiwan have to do with Thailand? LOL

 

[d3n]

Very intresting, Global Security says that Thai has nice some nice chunks of military equipment that might not be under Thai army control. I wonder if the Thai airforce and its 40 F-16s and the navy with his british supported aircraft carrier and navel vessels are behind this land general.

 

[Ricochet]

There's not much info yet, but according to the article it sounds like they had legitimate reason for a coup. As long as it's a non-violent coup I don't see why you think it's chaos in Thailand.

Thailand has seen dozens of government coups since the end of World War II

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: BrownTown
am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

Huh? How do you figure?

Edit: Oh you think this is Taiwan? Ill be nice and only laugh a little

Well to be a LITTLE fair, Chen Shui-bian is getting hammered in Taiwan itself with the hundreds of thousands of protestors that want him out....and with corruption in the family, and things such as his wife asking for a divorce - I guess one could MAYYBE see the similarity between *thailand* and *taiwan* since I wouldn't be suprsied to hear of a coup in taiwan at this point in time as well

/me pauses and thinks about it for a minute

Okay n/m you win I have no idea how a person can confuse the tw

 

[dmcowen674]

What impact is there that this Thai PM was pwned while at the U.N.???

I don't know of any Oil in Thailand, is there???

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: BrownTown
am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

Huh? How do you figure?

Edit: Oh you think this is Taiwan? Ill be nice and only laugh a little

Well to be a LITTLE fair, Chen Shui-bian is getting hammered in Taiwan itself with the hundreds of thousands of protestors that want him out....and with corruption in the family, and things such as his wife asking for a divorce - I guess one could MAYYBE see the similarity between *thailand* and *taiwan* since I wouldn't be suprsied to hear of a coup in taiwan at this point in time as well

/me pauses and thinks about it for a minute

Okay n/m you win I have no idea how a person can confuse the tw

Well, they both start with a T, and they both have an "aye" and "ah" sound in them, and they are both two syllables, and they both have asians in them.

But yah, it's still pretty hard to confuse the two

 

[Kwaipie]

Natural resources:
tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

We need lignite!

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: BrownTown
am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

Huh? How do you figure?

Edit: Oh you think this is Taiwan? Ill be nice and only laugh a little

Well to be a LITTLE fair, Chen Shui-bian is getting hammered in Taiwan itself with the hundreds of thousands of protestors that want him out....and with corruption in the family, and things such as his wife asking for a divorce - I guess one could MAYYBE see the similarity between *thailand* and *taiwan* since I wouldn't be suprsied to hear of a coup in taiwan at this point in time as well

/me pauses and thinks about it for a minute

Okay n/m you win I have no idea how a person can confuse the tw

Well, they both start with a T, and they both have an "aye" and "ah" sound in them, and they are both two syllables, and they both have asians in them.

But yah, it's still pretty hard to confuse the two

I actually LOL'd at that one I thought the same thing hehe

 

[HombrePequeno]

I'm not sure I'm completely understanding the situation. It seems the people that support the coup want a PM that is installed by the King. The King himself said months ago that that would be unconstitutional and undemocratic.

It seems like the opposition is just being a bunch of whiney little bitches, honestly.

Wiki link on some background of the situation.

 

[judasmachine]

I like how in one of the communiques on the BBC says, "We apologise for the inconvenience."

 

[Polish3d]

What is the relevance of the muslim issue here?


From the Christiansciencemonitor's website (where I try to get more unbiased independent news), I saw this passage:


military spokesman said army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin would be acting prime minister.
Sondhi, a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated country

Is it accurate to say that Islamic forces have staged a coup against the Buddhist government of Thailand, or is that simply inaccurate?

I'm curious but have no clue personally, please only answer if you really know you know.

 

[magomago]

This is my favorite part:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5361512.stm

However, in a broadcast on all Thai television channels, the leadership of the armed forces said it had taken control of Bangkok, declared nationwide martial law and ordered all troops to return to their bases.

"We ask for the co-operation of the public and ask your pardon for the inconvenience," the announcement said.

A spokesman for the coup leaders, Gen Prapart Sakuntanak, said the seizure would be temporary and power "returned to the people" soon.

Declaring themselves the "Council of Political Reform", the rebels said they were led by Gen Sonthi, visited the king and declared loyalty to him.

Sorry about that! We pardon our actions and are terribly sorry at what happened


And Frackal: I have no idea. this is the first time I even read of anything mentioning their religious affiliation. I think if religion was a deciding factor it would have been obvious or it would be someting that many people would be speculating about.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Frackal
What is the relevance of the muslim issue here?


From the Christiansciencemonitor's website (where I try to get more unbiased independent news), I saw this passage:


military spokesman said army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin would be acting prime minister.
Sondhi, a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated country

Is it accurate to say that Islamic forces have staged a coup against the Buddhist government of Thailand, or is that simply inaccurate?

I'm curious but have no clue personally, please only answer if you really know you know.

It has no relevance because the PM was very unpopular throughout the country, disliked by Buddhist and Muslim alike. There was already a large movement calling for the PMs resignation.

This being a bloodless coup, it looks like the Thai people will get a chance to elect a better PM in the future (hopefully sooner than later).

To the OP: Thailand is hardly in chaos. Chaos is what happened after the tsunami. This was a relatively quiet event; news reports said that business went on as usual in most of Thailand. There is certainly a lot of talk about the event, but not chaos.

 

[BrownTown]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: BrownTown
am I the only one who thinks somehow Bush is gonna somehow get this screwed around into a China vs US thing? Beign as China acts like it owns Taiwan and US says otherwise, and now it will go to battle.

Huh? How do you figure?

Edit: Oh you think this is Taiwan? Ill be nice and only laugh a little

whoops, misread that title, my bad.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Kwaipie
Natural resources:
tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

We need lignite!

Thanks

Actually most valuable in that list is the tantulum, it is used for capacitor storage.

 

[HombrePequeno]

Originally posted by: Frackal
What is the relevance of the muslim issue here?


From the Christiansciencemonitor's website (where I try to get more unbiased independent news), I saw this passage:


military spokesman said army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin would be acting prime minister.
Sondhi, a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated country

Is it accurate to say that Islamic forces have staged a coup against the Buddhist government of Thailand, or is that simply inaccurate?

I'm curious but have no clue personally, please only answer if you really know you know.

I think it's more of a pro-king (or anti-Thaksin, I guess) coup from what I read in the Wiki article. I don't think there is too much religious tension in Thailand. Thais have a deep respect for their king and it seems like Thaksin presided over some things that the king normally does which lead to accusations of Thaksin trying to become king.

 

[Thump553]

This has nothing to do with Isalm. It seems like plain vanilla political corruption-it seems the Prime Minister sold his business last spring and engineered a deal so that the $1.9 BILLION in profits he made were tax free. Many of his fellow countrymen (who pay their taxes) became upset with that-they must not adhere to the trickle-down theory over there.

NPR had some real interesting features on this during this evenings show and I'd suggest checking their website to grab them. One thing is that it apparently is not chaos-the reporter on the scene said the revolt appeared to be totally bloodless and the soldiers, military spokesmen, etc. all seemed very relaxed-even posing for tourists' pictures.

 

[babylon5]

As long as it's bloodless coup, go ahead!!

 

[Martin]

I think some of you need to rein in your conspiracy theories. This is neither some covert CIA operation, neither is it some radical islamic takeover.

I don't follow Thai politics all that much, but Thaksin is widely despised and the coutnry has gone through a some nastry political crises recently. Hopefully this will be the army giving everyone a "time out", rather than instituting a dictatorship.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.