Article

2006-09-20 Southeast Asia

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Anonymoose 2006-09-20 13:46|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Coup Junta Statement:

"Announcements:

The current government 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 nation has been governed in a corrupt manner. Independent agencies have been dominated by politics. The constitutional intention is 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 are in danger of occurring. This is despite efforts by many sections of society to resolve the problem. 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 return power to the people as soon as possible.

The council is committed to preserving peace and security and to upholding the monarchy."

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 The council has repealed the state of emergency declared on Sept 19 at 9.05pm.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 abrogated.

2. The House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet and the Constitution Court are dissolved.

3. The privy councillors will remain in their duty.

4. The courts of justice, except the Constitution Court, will retain their full power.

Chronology

8 pm - Negotiations were held between a pro-Thaksin group led by Supreme Commander Gen Ruengroj Mahasaranont and another group led by Army Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin. Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda was approached to mediate in the talks. Gen Sonthi's group wanted Mr Thaksin to wash his hands off politics.

8.30 pm - Gen Prem had an audience with the King.

9.30 pm - Gen Prem left the palace. A source close to Gen Prem quoted the privy council president as saying that there would be no problems as Thaksin would leave politics.

9.05 pm - Thaksin refused to bow to pressure. He declared a state of emergency with Gen Ruangroj being appointed to enforce the state emergency. He sacked Gen Sonthi as army chief. Mr Thaksin's statement came on air around 10 pm and was taken off the air by the military just minutes later.

10 pm - Gen Sonthi's troops wearing yellow and blue ribbons drove their tanks towards Government House.

11 pm - Gen Sonthi's troops sieged Government House without any resistance from the pro-Thaksin group.

11.10 pm - The Democratic Reform Council issued a statement that it had taken control of the country.

12.00 am -The council had an audience with the King at Chitrlada Palace.

12.30 am - The council scrapped the state of emergency decree.

12.35 am - The council issued an order banning the movement of troops from their bases.

12.47 am - The council issued a third announcement abolishing the 1997 constitution, the Upper House, the Lower House, the Cabinet and the Constitution Court. The privy council remains in office. All courts except the Constitution Court retain their authority.

* A source said Gen Sonthi earlier consulted Gen Prem about his plan to seize power from the government. The privy council president acknowledged his plan, but did not give his view. During the past three months, Gen Prem reminded troops from the three armed forces in his lectures that they "belong to His Majesty the King and the country, and not to the politicians. Their foremost loyalty should always lie with the country and the King".

TRIVIA BONUS!

* Gen Sonthi, Navy Chief Adm Sathiraphan Keyanont, Air Force chief ACM Chalit Phukphasuk and national police chief Pol Gen Kowit Watana, who sit on the Democratic Reform Council, were classmates and graduates of Class 6 at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School.

Posted by Anonymoose 2006-09-20 13:53|| 2006-09-20 13:53|| Front Page Top

#2 I've yet to see anything that gives me the slightest hope for them adopting a strong anti-Islamist policy.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2006-09-20 14:26|| 2006-09-20 14:26|| Front Page Top

#3 In addition to being the land of smiles, Thailand was, prior to democracy in the 1980's (due to pressure from the US), also the land of coups. Thai coups have traditionally been relatively bloodless, but it is noxious to see that the rich, well-organized minority that have agitated against Thaksin have now rolled out the tanks in order to defend their financial interests, at the expense of the popular electoral majority that have returned Thaksin to power again and again. It is also disappointing to see the king in the position of defending a bunch of unelected plutocrats against the popular will. He may yet live to regret his choice. In the past, coups pitted one general against another, and there wasn't really a dime's worth of difference between one general and another. In an era of popular elections, coups now pit generals against majorities or pluralities of the electorate. That's not a good position to be in.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-09-20 14:40|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-09-20 14:40|| Front Page Top

#4 The Journal on what Thaksin did after major street protests against his administration:

Mr. Thaksin dissolved the government and called a new election in April to restore his mandate. Key opposition parties boycotted the vote amid continued street protests, and the country seemed rudderless until the king questioned the validity of the April election in a public address, calling on courts to settle the issue.

Thai courts subsequently invalidated the results, in which Mr. Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party won the majority of seats in Parliament. Mr. Thaksin subsequently took the role of caretaker prime minister pending a new election that was expected later this year. A number of analysts of Thailand believed Mr. Thaksin's party would again win the national elections, possibly explaining the timing of the Thai military's move.

Mr. Thaksin, who has served as Thailand's leader since 2001, remains extremely popular with many Thais, especially in rural areas, for a series of populist measures that included cash payouts to small villages and subsidized health care.

He also gained favor with foreign investors by promoting an economic program to boost Thailand's economy in the face of growing competition from China. This program, which many economists viewed as a template for other, similar countries dealing with the rise of China, included efforts to privatize state companies, to negotiate free-trade pacts with other countries, including the U.S. and Japan, and to authorize large investments in new infrastructure.

Many of those initiatives -- including some of the free-trade deals -- have languished this year while the government was paralyzed by political stalemate. Meanwhile, many Thais believe the king and his supporters were disenchanted with Mr. Thaksin's attempts to aggressively consolidate his power.

Political analysts say the tacit support of King Bhumibol is necessary for any individual or group that aspires to govern Thailand. The 78-year-old monarch has frequently played a political role, implicitly signing off on military coups at times, most notably in 1976, and intervening to ensure the return of civilian governments, as in 1992.

King Bhumibol, who many Thais view as a quasidivine figure, rarely gives interviews and often chooses to talk indirectly.

His annual birthday speeches are carefully examined in Bangkok. In 2002, he published a biography of his favorite pet dog, a stray mongrel rescued from the streets of Bangkok, that was widely interpreted as a warning that Thailand shouldn't abandon its traditional values in a quickly modernizing world.

It is considered inappropriate for Thais to speak publicly about the king's possible role in politics, and on Monday, Mr. Thaksin denied suggestions that the king was involved in any of the recent political dramas.

"One should not bring him into politics," he said.

Nevertheless, in June Mr. Thaksin said a "charismatic person" was out to remove him from his job as prime minister. Mr. Thaksin went on to say that a mysterious figure whom he refused to name was "wielding extraconstitutional force" to push him from office.

Most Thais assumed that to mean the king or his chief lieutenant, Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda. By appearing to attack the monarch and his supporters, Mr. Thaksin escalated the economically damaging political conflict into a contest between Thailand's royal and military traditions, and a new, more modern way of governing a rapidly industrializing country.

King Bhumibol's advisers struck back with a show of force. Donning his military uniform, chief adviser Gen. Prem toured army camps around the country warning soldiers that their loyalty is to the king, not Mr. Thaksin.

Other people seen as close to the royal palace gave prominent speeches in recent weeks that were interpreted as critical of Mr. Thaksin's push to modernize the Thai economy and open it up to more foreign investment.

I'm not a big Thaksin fan, but the opposition is just a bunch of moneyed oligopolists looking to keep Thailand's economy closed for their own personal benefit. With an open economy, Thailand could grow way faster* than China or Malaysia, the neighbor with which it frequently compares itself. Thailand is still wealthier than China on a per capita basis. If it doesn't make its economy as open as China's (which isn't all that open, but is now more open than Thailand's), it will fall way behind China in the economic sweepstakes, and has no hope of catching Malaysia.

* This would have major benefits for Thailand's poor. But since when have Thailand's plutocrats worried about the poor?

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-09-20 14:42|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-09-20 14:42|| Front Page Top

#5 Possible countervailing factor: Gen. Sonthi is ethnically thai and while moslem, isn't a malay moslem.

I suspect a lot of the "moslem insurgencies" would have been simply non-religiously-affiliated regional insurgencies a decade ago, but calling yourself the Mohammedean Brotherhood of (for example) Nigeria suddenly opens up all sorts of interesting funding sources. It's easy to expand your support this way, but it's a mile wide and a foot deep.

I think this is what happened to the LRA.

Maybe this means Sonthi won't necessarily want to negotiate with what are basically a bunch of Malay separatists. Or maybe not. I don't know.

Posted by Abdominal Snowman 2006-09-20 14:47|| 2006-09-20 14:47|| Front Page Top

#6 My feeling is that if Uncle Sam and the EU launch a trade embargo against Thailand until Thaksin is restored, the coup will collapse. We need to step on the coup plotters before the Thai military turns Thailand into another economic basket case and Chinese vassal state just like Burma. Thailand grew rapidly during a time when India and China were closed economies. The competition has stepped up with the economic opening of the two countries. Thailand needs to match their market openings. Or be left behind. Keeping corrupt Thai oligopolists afloat at the expense of the national interest will invite more problems down the road for Thailand, not to mention be inimical to the American interest in a strong Thailand as a counterweight to both Chinese and Indonesian ambitions.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-09-20 14:49|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-09-20 14:49|| Front Page Top

#7 AS: Possible countervailing factor: Gen. Sonthi is ethnically thai and while moslem, isn't a malay moslem.

I've seen a photo. He looks Thai through and through (kind of like Chinese with a deep tan) as opposed to ethnic Malay (who look like Filipinos*).

* Here's how you tell - Filipinos who look like ethnic Chinese are ethnic Chinese. Those who don't are ethnic Filipinos.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-09-20 14:53|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-09-20 14:53|| Front Page Top

#8 If the coup (a) Turned there tanks on the Islamists in the south and threatened that idiot running Malayia (b) Turned there tanks West and took out the bastard coup in Burma I could find it in my heart to accept them into the brotherhood of nations.

Otherwise they better get the propoganda rolling because I may be a warmonger but I hate dictatorships.

Posted by rjschwarz 2006-09-20 17:03|| 2006-09-20 17:03|| Front Page Top

23:55 ex-lib
23:50 Dave D.
23:47 ex-lib
23:41 Zenster
23:41 tipper
23:39 JosephMendiola
23:37 Zenster
23:32 JosephMendiola
23:29 Swamp Blondie
23:28 JosephMendiola
23:26 Frank G
23:26 mcsegeek1
23:21 Abdominal Snowman
23:18 JosephMendiola
23:16 mcsegeek1
23:15 Dave D.
23:15 Frank G
23:14 Cyber Sarge
23:14 Zenster
23:14 mcsegeek1
23:12 Zenster
23:09 Zenster
23:06 Dave D.
23:06 RWV