Thailand's army declares military coup

[jimnyc]

BANGKOK — Thailand’s military seized power Thursday in a bloodless coup, dissolving the government, scrapping the constitution and dispersing groups of protesters from both sides of the country’s political divide who had gathered in Bangkok and raised fears of a violent showdown.

The powerful army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, announced the military takeover in a statement broadcast on national television. It was followed by additional announcements including a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and an order for 18 government officials — including the ousted prime minister — to report immediately to the country’s new governing military commission.

Soldiers kept a low profile in the center of the capital. But as the curfew approached, troops diverted traffic at key intersections and used armored personnel carriers to block some main roads, including the one in front of the U.S. Embassy. Soldiers dispersed most demonstrators from two protest sites where competing groups were camped out — one backing the now-ousted elected government and another that had struggled for seven months to unseat it.

Although the military insisted it wasn’t taking sides, its ousting of the government met the key goal of the anti-government protesters. The pro-government “Red Shirt” supporters had earlier said they would not tolerate a coup, but there were no immediate signs of resistance or reports of violence. The military provided hundreds of buses to take the protesters home.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...809_story.html

[gabosaurus]

There are many countries that have a past history of military takeovers and juntas. Thailand is one of them.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/

[namvet]

a retired Navy officer i served with lives there. can't get any reply's from him.

[NightTrain]

I was unaware that Thailand has been having governmental problems for the last 7 years.

Hope your buddy is okay, Namvet.

[namvet]

last I heard from him
At 09:29 20/5/2014, you wrote:

and this affects you or Americans over there to. i assume???

Not yet, unless a curfew is announced. or unless we go around acting suspicious or wearing red (pro-government) or yellow shirts (anti-government) . We've had curfews here before, usually about 1800 or 2000-0600 or somthing like that.
No foreigners should be affected otherwise, unless they are dumb enough to hang around the protest areas, because they "wanna see".

The pro-government reds have been threatening civil war, and the unions are striking to join the anti-government protesters, who are trying to mobilize everyone in Bangkok to go to government offices and take them over and toss the incumbents.
It could end peacefully, but it could erupt into a war as well. But since the anti-government has said he will surrender on 27 May, whatever happens may be over by then, but it is hard to take politician's word for anything anywhere.
As for me, I do not live in any area that is likely to become a target, as there are no national government offices around here, and there are a number of Buddhist temples and schools in this area, which is also a little off the beaten track, so I doubt that I will be affected at all.

[NightTrain]

They've probably got all internet locked down... that seems to be the first order of business during an overthrow these days.

[namvet]

They've probably got all internet locked down... that seems to be the first order of business during an overthrow these days.

that's what im afraid of. thousands of American both live and visit there