Thai coup leaders to announce 'new policy'

ABC News Online ^ | Sept 19, 2006

[jdm]

Thailand's coup leaders have declared today a national holiday and ordered top civil servants to a meeting at military headquarters to announce their "new policy".

The military declared martial law and suspended the constitution shortly after declaring that they had staged a coup against controversial Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The coup leaders have declared "a holiday for government, banks and the stock exchange in order to quickly restore law and order," according to a statement read on national television.

They told top civil servants, leaders of state enterprises, and university presidents around Bangkok to meet at military headquarters at 9:00 am (12:00pm AEST) "to learn about the new policy," the statement said.

Provincial governors and other top local officials were also ordered to report to regional military commands or face prosecution.

"All civil officials must comply with instructions from regional army commanders," the statement said.

"Governors, senior officials and university presidents must report to regional military commanders at 9:00 am or risk serious punishment," it said. Thaksin's return

Mr Thaksin has still to decide whether to return to Thailand from New York, his spokesman said Wednesday.

"Prime Minister Thaksin is now in New York and he has not yet made up his mind where he will go. But he will have to make a decision soon," government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee told AFP from New York.

Mr Thaksin cancelled plans to give a speech to the UN General Assembly late on Tuesday and was holed up at an up-market New York hotel for much of the day as the coup went ahead in Bangkok.

The billionaire politician still has an official plane at his disposal.

He has a private residence in London, where one of his daughters is studying.

Mr Thaksin's wife Potjaman reportedly left Bangkok for Singapore late Tuesday as the coup was announced.

[Zhang Fei]

He already promised to resign and if he didn't, I'm sure the people or the military will make him.

Since the people (defined here as the majority of the voting population, not wealthy Thai oligopolists) seem to keep re-electing him, it's the military and their moneyed supporters, not the people, who have a problem with Thaksin. What you're saying, then, is that factions in the military - along with their financial supporters - will launch another coup if this one fails. My feeling is that if Uncle Sam and the EU launch a trade embargo against Thailand until Thaksin is restored, the coup will collapse.

[Killborn]

You could be right. By all indications, he doesn't seem that popular.

Still he did promise the people to resign. It would be the equivalent of Clinton not leaving after Jan. 21 2001. If he's not deposed andd he doesn't resign when the timecome, I think even many of his supportewrs would turn on him.

[Zhang Fei]

It would be the equivalent of Clinton not leaving after Jan. 21 2001.

Completely different situation. Clinton was required by the Constitution to leave office. Any attempt to avoid doing so would have been illegal and seen as a coup attempt. Any number of politicians have gone back on commitments to resign or not run again, under the reasoning that these commitments were obtained unfairly under duress. These aren't illegal or even necessarily unethical. It is now clear why Thaksin may have agreed to resign - the military threatened a coup, a promise upon which it has now delivered. If the armed forces chiefs aren't fired across the board, and given life terms, Thai democracy has no meaning.

[freedumb2003]

That is the age at which billions of our ancestors were betrothed, got married and had children, generation upon generation, millions upon millions of years.

Whoah! I understand TToE, but "humans" as we know them don't go back Millions of years.

So I see you are ENDORSING pedophelia.

I think this might be your last post.

[kingsurfer]

Thailand is open-pedophile Central.
___________________________________________________________

No doubt bad stuff goes on but it certainly is not in the open.

The Thai authorities have taken huge steps to crack down on these perverts. Thai jails are notoriously bad and as far as drugs and kiddy fiddling goes the Thai police cannot be bribed to let you go. They get promotions and pay rises if they arrest perverts.

RE: the recent Fox new coverage of the Mark Karr arrest - Fox ran DECADE old stories from the bad old days. Thailand is a much changed country in regard to this subject.

No doubt it still happens but it is firmly behind closed doors.

[kingsurfer]

In Thailand, the age of consent is 15, thanks to its aping of Western "reformers". I see no problem with the age-old idea of the age of consent being the age of puberty. That is the age at which billions of our ancestors were betrothed, got married and had children, generation upon generation, millions upon millions of years.
___________________________________________________________

The age of consent (with parental permission) is 15.

The age of consent for paid sexual relations is 20. You cannot legally enter into a nightclub in Thailand unless you are 20 and they check everybodies ID no matter how old you look.

[Rome2000]

governors and other top local officials were also ordered to report to regional military commands or face prosecution.

I would love to give that order to democrap politicos nationwide.

[kingsurfer]

Maybe he's just a puppet
The king is a popularly revered figure that the new regime will trot out to appease the masses.

He won't have any actual authority, of course.
___________________________________________________________

What the King says goes - Period.

He has supreme authority over his subjects. No politician or Army General would dare contradict him.

General Sondhi works, and pledges his allegiance, for the King.

[Minutemen]

Is the coup a new ally of the axis of evil?

[kingsurfer]

Is the coup a new ally of the axis of evil?
___________________________________________________________

No, absolutely not.

[Rome2000]

Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!

I'll have 1,000 grilled cheese, 300 tuna and BLT sandwiches; 700 coffees; 500 Cokes and 1,000 7Ups.

"Do you want coleslaw with that?"

[Thai-Anti-Taqiyya]

Read more about this news here!

http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28756&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=ac17168a307784bf0929183e9d11218f

Thaksin is a threat to Thai democracy. And this coup will gave back real-democracy soon. General Sondhi is not the supreme leader of this coup and he's a trustworthy nominally Muslim. He's not Taqiyya(kit man). Don't panic!

And please don't support Thaksin, this guy is ally with Burmese government!!!!!

[Zhang Fei]

Whoah! I understand TToE, but "humans" as we know them don't go back Millions of years.

That's what millions upon millions years means.

So I see you are ENDORSING pedophelia.

I see that you've decided that your pedophile ancestors are scum. And that entire countries that define the age of consent as being above the age of puberty are scum. The Bible, the Koran and the Torah are, of course, scummy books for endorsing sexuality above the age of puberty. Ours is a frivolous age, and one of the sillier aspects is the jihad over moronic topics that have been settled for millions of years, thanks to "reformers" whose motivations are suspect.

I think this might be your last post.

That depends on site operators, not you. Let's face it - I don't exactly live for the privilege of posting on this site.

[Zhang Fei]

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, it will fall way behind China in the economic sweepstakes, and has no hope of catching with Malaysia.

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

[Killborn]

No it wasn't because of that. This promise was long before any rumblings in the military about the coup.

Regardless, only time will tell. It's the next day now. Let's see how the coup is proceeding.

[ldish]

Thank you for your postings...i called this guy and others out earlier and continually for disparaging Thailand on this once upon a time problems...obviously there are those who are ignorant but continue to post to the net with lies...i live in Thailand as i suppose you do too and know the truth...not the lies of the past!!!!!! THANKS AGAIN!!!

[kingsurfer]

Thailand has changed so much in such a short time. When my friends visited in the late nineties it was still a hippy backpacker pot smoker hangout but now it is catering to middle class families and affluent people who want a second home in paradise.

There is a sex industry (as there is in every country) but the Thai authorities love nothing more than to crack down on child sex perverts.

I have been here for nearly two years now and have never, ever encountered any kind of peadophilia out in the open as Fox News recently reported. Those days are long gone.

Simply put the Thai Authorities recognise that it is bad for business.

[HiTech RedNeck]

we are siamee-eez if you plee-eez
we are siamee-eez if you don't pleez