Public Holiday Called for 20th September - Bloomberg 03:06
The army commander Gen Sonthi Boonyarataglin staged a coup d'etat Tuesday evening (Thailand time) and ousted the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
A so-called "Democratic Reform Council" declared itself in control and declared martial law nationwide. Terse announcements said it included the commanders of all three armed forces and the police. It said the coup was necessary to correct "unprecedented division in the country."
The Council said there seemed to be widespread corruption, and independent agenies were subverted by politicians, apparently a reference to the Thaksin government. "The national government through the current administration has caused conflicts and undermined the harmony of the people as never before in history."
Public acceptance remained unknown. The coup occurred late Tuesday night, when Bangkok was under a major rainstorm, and few people were seen on the streets.
The opposition had scheduled a major anti-Thaksin rally for Wednesday. The last military coup, in 1991, was extremely unpopular and was overthrown by violent opposition in the streets.
Officers this time promised to hold power for as short a time as possible. An announcement over the name of Gen Sonthi, a Special Forces veteran long seen as apolitical, promised: "The council is steadfast in its objective, which is not to take over the government permanently and it will hand back the power to the people as soon as possible."
The Council repealed the 1997 "people's constitution" and dissolved both houses of parliament, the government and the constitution court. Announcements said the Council was under the King, and confirmed that the Privy Council and all courts except the Constitution Court remained in power.
(NOTE: Texts of the first three official announcements are at the end of this story)
Retired Gen Surayudh Chulanont, a respected former military commander now a member of the royal Privy Council, was announced as prime minister to replace Mr Thaksin. There was no early word how log the generals intended to remain in power, or what their reforms would be.
Mr Thaksin was in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, and had earlier tried to dismiss Gen Sonthi and order troops back to their barracks. His order, via a voice broadcast on TV and radio, was cut off halfway as the dramatic coup unfolded.
Tanks and troops of the Fourth Cavalry Battalion moved into strategic points in Bangkok, including the Royal Plaza.
Like most of the previous 19 military coups since 1932, there was no violence. Tanks surrounded Government House and apparently some newspaper offices. All broadcasting on local TV was interrupted, and replaced by a notice which stated the military takeover and apologised "for any inconvenience."
In the early hours of the coup, most other communications continued uninterrupted. But after several hours, all cable-TV broadcasts were cut, apparently because Mr Thaksin and other Thai ministers were giving interviews to CNN and the BBC, which are widely seen in Bangkok.
Thailand airports remained open, including the main international airport at Bangkok.
Thailand websites including the Bangkok Post were operating under very heavy loads as people tried to find out what was happening. The Bangkok Post newspaper was being prepared and printed for Wednesday morning. The front page headline was a huge, black and capitalised statement:
COUP D'ETAT
As always, local broadcast media contained no breaking updates.
Mr Thaksin said he would return to Thailand from New York. The shadowy coup administrators said he would not be allowed to resume his post as prime minister.
Sources told the Bangkok Post that Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulananonda had tried and failed to mediate between the coup forces and another army faction loyal to Mr Thaksin. Gen Prem was summoned to the Royal Palace.
The whereabouts of most of the members the government were unknown. Mr Thaksin, Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai and Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkol were in New York. Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Wannasathit, the caretaker premier, was reportedly detained by the military.
Text of Official announcements:
Announcements:
The national government through the current administration has caused conflicts and undermined the harmony of the people as never before in history.
Each side is determined to win by any means and the discord has shown a tendency to escalate.
Many people have been suspicious about the actions of the national administration under a constitutional monarchy.
The country has been governed in a way as to suggest widespread corruption. The independent agencies have been dominated by politics. The constitutional intention has been left unserved.
This has led to political activities becoming problem-plagued on many fronts and the situation had worsened to the point where violations against His Majesty the King, whom the people hold in the highest regard, are in danger of occurring. This is despite efforts by many sections of society to resolve the problem on a continued basis. The efforts have not pacified the growing tension, however. For this reason, the Democratic Reform Council with the monarch as its head, which comprises the armed forces leaders and chief of the Royal Thai Police Office, has found it imperative to seize the power of government from this point onward. The council is steadfast in its objective, which is not to take over the government permanently and it will hand back the power to the people as soon as possible.
The council is committed to preserving national peace and security and to upholding the monarchy whom we Thais hold in the highest respect.
First coup announcement:
In reference to the council's announcement of its power seizure earlier, for the sake of peace and order to prevail in the country, the council has imposed nationwide martial law. The council has repealed the state of emergency declared on Sept 19 at 9.05pm. This announcement is made by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, head of the Democratic Reform Council.
Second coup announcement:
The council has ordered that all mobilisation and movement of military logistics and manpower be prohibited. Military personnel are absolutely not to leave their units without permission from the council.
Third coup announcement:
1. The current constitution, drafted in 1997, is now repealed.
2. The House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet and the Constitution Court are now dissolved along with the abrogation of the constitution.
3. The privy councillors will remain in their duty.
4. The courts of justice, except the Constitution Court, will retain their full power to adjudicate cases according to the law and the announcements of the council.
Update time: 02:20 am Wednesday September 2006 Thailand time.
Bangkok Post Breaking News
That's it form me now - Good Night All - Hope for a Peaceful outcome for Thailand and its people.
(SET/Banks and Gov Offices Closed tomorrow - looks like an interesting week ahead).