Former Minister Openly Calling For Military Coup.

[soundman]

From Bkk. Post today.

Former deputy prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who resigned from the cabinet for ordering police attacks on PAD demonstrations on Tuesday, now says a military-led coup d'etat is the only way to resolve the political strife. EXCLUSIVE By Wassana Nanuam

In an exclusive interview with the Bangkok Post on Thursday, Gen Chavalit said the answer lies with army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda, who has repeatedly ruled out a coup.

Gen Chavalit said Gen Anupong should immediately return power after staging a coup to allow an interim government to be installed and tackle the political turmoil.

Former minister openly calling for the military to step in.

[Payboy]

sounds like big jiew has aspirations to be caretaker prime minister....

[jumnien]

Without the will on the part of this government to remove the PAD from Government House, I think a military coup is probably the best option. If this government won't get rid of them (PAD), they don't deserve to serve.

[Scott]

I think a large number of influential people want the military to step in and I think that's why there is so much turmoil. I think they want to agitate things to the point where it happens.

Sad situation.

[sgtpeppers]

I think a military coup is probably the best option.

hahaha do you know how hypocritical you sound ?

[sgtpeppers]

From Bkk. Post today.

Former deputy prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who resigned from the cabinet for ordering police attacks on PAD demonstrations on Tuesday, now says a military-led coup d'etat is the only way to resolve the political strife. EXCLUSIVE By Wassana Nanuam

In an exclusive interview with the Bangkok Post on Thursday, Gen Chavalit said the answer lies with army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda, who has repeatedly ruled out a coup.

Gen Chavalit said Gen Anupong should immediately return power after staging a coup to allow an interim government to be installed and tackle the political turmoil.

Former minister openly calling for the military to step in.

all just proves how irresponsible this gov is.

[jumnien]

No, enlighten me please!

[kmart]

Former deputy prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who resigned from the cabinet for ordering police attacks on PAD demonstrations on Tuesday, now says a military-led coup d'etat is the only way to resolve the political strife.

Well, he would, wouldn't he?

Probably on the sage advice of his missus' soothsayer or whatever.

[soundman]

The problem is we just had a coup, the pantomit (PAD) got what they wanted (a new constitution), and when the PPP and all their cronies found they could still sidestep all the articles to keep plundering the country the pantomit come back in force demanding a new set of rules and we are back at square one.

Another coup doesn't solve anything, it just restarts the power games.

After all, being in charge is what it is all about in Thailand, nothing else matters.

[sgtpeppers]

No, enlighten me please!

dont play dumb sunrise07.

regular readers on the other news threads know exactly what i allude to.

[jumnien]

I really think that perhaps it is time for the military to stop the violence and clear the PAD themselves from Government House. Ever since the PAD started dominating the Thai political scene the country has been going down hill. Somchai has no balls or ability to do that.

[george]

THAILAND: Another Bout of Military Rule?

Analysis by Larry Jagan

BANGKOK: -- The battle for Bangkok has entered a new and violent phase, the logical end of which can only be another bout of military rule.

So far, the army chiefs have been insisting that the government handle the situation and that soldiers have no place in politics. But many fear that if there is more violence -- of the type seen on Tuesday -- the army chief, Anupong Paojinda, may feel compelled to move in.

Three years after the foes of the former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, took to the streets to oust him and his government, Thailand’s political crisis is no closer to being solved. As country’s political deadlock deepens, analysts and commentators fear that only a military coup can resolve the impasse.

Soldiers are now deployed on the streets of Bangkok to help quell anti-government protests as police failed to disperse anti-government demonstrators who have vowed to stay on the streets until the government resigns.

"We will stay here until we win," said Surachai, one of the demonstrators gathered here since the start of the protest some ten weeks ago.

"The battle has entered its final phase," Sondhi Limthongkul, a media mogul and leader of the protest movement, that calls itself the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), told his supporters camped out in the grounds of Government House. "We are on the cusp of victory,’’ he added.

But the Thai press had a more sober assessment of the violent clashes between riot police and PAD demonstrators which left one woman dead and more than four hundred injured -- some seriously. ‘’Bloodbath in Bangkok", screamed the headlines on the front page of the English daily, ‘The Bangkok Post’.

In a separate incident, a man was killed when a car bomb exploded outside the party headquarters of the Chart Thai party which is part of the ruling coalition led by the Peoples Power Party, that replaced Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party disbanded by the Constitutional Court early last year.

For weeks the authorities tried to appease or ignore the thousands of demonstrators who have laid siege to Government House. But when the protestors tried to block access to the Parliament, before new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was to make his maiden speech, outlining his party’s policies, the security forces were ordered to clear the legislature complex.

A fierce battle ensued as hundreds of riot police clashed with the demonstrators as they tried to clear a path for the legislators. The security forces fired volleys of teargas and lobbed stun grenades into the crowd, which reacted by hurling stones and firecrackers back at the police.

Several thousand protestors then regrouped and marched to the nearby police headquarters chanting anti-government slogans, while others fought with the police. "It was like a battlefield," one of the protestors, Nualnoi, told IPS. "The police attacked unarmed civilians without warning -- it was lucky it did not get out of hand," she added.

The PAD has been relatively quiet in the past weeks, as Somchai’s government seemed to seize the initiative with talk of dialogue and compromise. There was a series of exchanges between the government and PAD leaders, according to senior sources in the PPP, often through intermediaries.

A bipartisan constitutional drafting committee was set up to help defuse political tensions. Somchai reportedly agreed to consider the PAD's call for political change through possible amendments to the 2007 charter which were drawn up under a previous military government and ratified by a referendum more than a year ago.

The PPP government has been considering reviewing the constitution to make it easier for Thaksin to return to political life. He and more than a hundred other senior members of the Thai Rak Thai party were banned from politics for five years when the Constitutional Court disbarred the party last year.

PAD leaders believe that Thai democracy has been undermined by the billionaire Thaksin and his allies. The TRT easily won the last three elections, but through massive electoral fraud and vote-buying, allege anti-government protestors. The PAD is proposing what it calls "new politics" -- under which most legislators would be appointed rather than elected.

Ranged against the supporters of Thaksin -- who is charged with using his massive mandate from the rural poor to promote his business empire -- are grandees drawn from the military, aristocracy, officialdom and the urban middle-class. For legitimacy, the PAD and Limthongkul claim to have the support of Thailand’s venerated monarchy, mainly through a shrine to Queen Sirikit erected on the grounds of Government House.

"Dialogue doesn’t really suit the PAD, as it deprives them of their power," said Prof. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political scientist at the Chulalongkorn University. "This latest turn of events was intended to galvanise the movement and were meant to deliberately provoke the authorities."

The PAD has upped the ante and is going for broke, according to other political analysts. The arrest of two of the PAD leaders in the past few days was the signal for a renewed campaign to topple the government, they say.

Chaiwat Sinsuwong and Chamlong Srimuang were detained on treason charges for their roles in the PAD-led raids on government buildings in August. Chaiwat was arrested last week after a private meeting with opposition leader Kraisak Choohaven at his Bangkok residence.

Chamlong was detained after he left the safety of the government compound surround by protestors to vote in the Bangkok governor’s elections on Sunday. There are many who believe that Chamlong orchestrated his own arrest to fire up PAD protestors whose enthusiasm for the battle has waned in recent weeks.

Thai society has never been so divided. Although the fault lines appear to be geographic -- the South and Bangkok against the North and North-East of the country -- the main rift is between those who oppose Thaksin and those who support him.

PAD supporters accuse Prime Minister Somchai of being a political proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law, who is currently seeking political asylum in Britain.

Similar street violence, last month, triggered a two-week state of emergency in Bangkok, but the army refused to enforce it and the measure was withdrawn after it badly damaged the tourist trade and the Thai economy as a whole.

This fresh outbreak of violence has raised fears that the military may be moving towards another coup. "While it cannot be ruled out, a coup would seem to be a remote option at the moment," Thitinan told IPS. But many of Thaksin’s supporters believe this indeed is the PAD’s real game plan.

-- IPS News 2008-10-08

[cmsally]

The only problem with coups is that you get the PAD put in mothballs for a while and then as soon you have another election that doesn't turn out the way they hoped, they will be back. It's like a record getting stuck. We've been there before.

Meanwhile Thaksin's money sits in the bank and that is what most of this is about.

[sriracha john]

Or more factually, the last election didn't turn out the way PAD hoped, yet they only "came out of mothballs" when the new government stated, "We're changing the constitution."

[jumnien]

Well, any future government will have to change the constitution. No one wants this one to stand for eternity!

[lazeeboy]

the sooner it happens the better ,this country needs some leadership,and if its the army then so be it

[jumnien]

Bring it on!

[h90]

I really think that perhaps it is time for the military to stop the violence and clear the PAD themselves from Government House. Ever since the PAD started dominating the Thai political scene the country has been going down hill. Somchai has no balls or ability to do that.

Make a coup, make an interim government, change the constitution (not that 30/70 thing, but more strong against vote buying and make it more proportional elections and less area based), tell the PAD to go home (anyway they will celebrate it as victory). Dissolve all that faker parties, ban the fakers for lifetime from politics and put the people responsible for the violence in jail.

Problem fixed

Just it won't happen that way

[jumnien]

I really think that perhaps it is time for the military to stop the violence and clear the PAD themselves from Government House. Ever since the PAD started dominating the Thai political scene the country has been going down hill. Somchai has no balls or ability to do that.

Make a coup, make an interim government, change the constitution (not that 30/70 thing, but more strong against vote buying and make it more proportional elections and less area based), tell the PAD to go home (anyway they will celebrate it as victory). Dissolve all that faker parties, ban the fakers for lifetime from politics and put the people responsible for the violence in jail.

Problem fixed

Just it won't happen that way

Jailing the PAD won't solve anything permanently!

[soundman]

I really think that perhaps it is time for the military to stop the violence and clear the PAD themselves from Government House. Ever since the PAD started dominating the Thai political scene the country has been going down hill. Somchai has no balls or ability to do that.

I don't know whether he has a good set of cojones or not, however he was cetainly stupid enough to allow the police to use flash bang type grenades against the pantomit, blowing the feet and legs of quite a few protesters.

In order to avoid a coup, he should relinquish power to a judicially appointed interim government. He has FAILED miserably at his job, and IMO should fall on his own sword.

[Insight]

Personally think a coup will be an outright disaster, especially with the current international financial turmoil. Remember the last time the military had a play with the economy?

Dissolve the house, call another election and keep a close eye on the preceding (handing out cards where necessary etc), just like the last time. Yes, it'll be a slow process, but a coup will only slow it down further.

[Old Man River]

I really think that perhaps it is time for the military to stop the violence and clear the PAD themselves from Government House. Ever since the PAD started dominating the Thai political scene the country has been going down hill. Somchai has no balls or ability to do that.

Make a coup, make an interim government, change the constitution (not that 30/70 thing, but more strong against vote buying and make it more proportional elections and less area based), tell the PAD to go home (anyway they will celebrate it as victory). Dissolve all that faker parties, ban the fakers for lifetime from politics and put the people responsible for the violence in jail.

Problem fixed

Just it won't happen that way

Sounds good to me. Ultimately, it has to happen this way. OK, I guess a police state would be another alternative to where it moves entirely in the opposite direction, but I don't see this happening. I do see happening something that resembles what you have said above.

The question is how to get there.

For awhile, there was a great deal of hope that Somchai was going to move towards a change in order to effect a national reconciliation. Chavalit was in place to negotiate with the PAD to help cool things off. However, the PM's refusal to change the venue for his meeting and subsequent police crack down is a strong indication that he has, apparently, changed his mind. Perhaps direction was received from abroad. I don't know.

Now, given the PM's direction, Chavalit's suggestion makes senese (I never thought I would make this comment).

I understand Anupong's reasoning as the military should not put itself in a position where it can be accused of openly choosing sides (I stress the word openly). Hence, things will have to get worse before they get better. However, they will get better, in time.

[K2K]

With international attention focused on the finacial meltdown - 'if' there was a coup it would be ideal timing as worlds media would not put it high on its priority lits.

G7 start today too - all we need is more chaos - well maybe a weaker Baht wouldnt hurt!

[PeaceBlondie]

Just because the only recent coup was bloodless, does not mean the next one will be the same. Generals do not attend peace-MAKING schools.

[hammered]

The only problem with coups is that you get the PAD put in mothballs for a while and then as soon you have another election that doesn't turn out the way they hoped, they will be back. It's like a record getting stuck. We've been there before.

Meanwhile Thaksin's money sits in the bank and that is what most of this is about.

Agreed with the proviso that the money is also about Thaksins ability to influence future events as politcs is money and without his dosh it will be difficult for him to play for a long period.

It does seem right now that the Chavalit-PPP dove negotiation intitiative is dead and that the PPP hawks are definitley in the driving seat. They prbably plan to at some point have another election and win to get a charter ammendment mandate to let all their spouses and clan members off of the 5-year ban. Today the Post reports that they are busy moving governors and interior ministry officials into strategic places to influence a vote outcome.

This plan will no doubt send the bureaucracy into a panic. Not surprising that Chavalit is now calling for a coup. Not only has he been personally shafted by the PPP not listening to him but he was also in the government purely to do a deal.

The risk of a coup has risen dramatically in the last few days and it seems to be no secret that there are those in the military who now want one. Quite whether Gen. Anupong retains his stance or upper hand remains to be seen. Watch out for things like Gen Anupong going abroad too.

[sjaak327]

The only problem with coups is that you get the PAD put in mothballs for a while and then as soon you have another election that doesn't turn out the way they hoped, they will be back. It's like a record getting stuck. We've been there before.

Meanwhile Thaksin's money sits in the bank and that is what most of this is about.

Yep, that's it in a nutshell.

[Crushdepth]

I've just about given up on Thai politics. Fortunately, the country seems to do quite well without a government.

[Plus]

If Chavalit, the great negotiator, hangs his gloves and says that time to talk has passed, it is probably a dead end indeed.

I still hope, though, that they can somehow persuade Somchai to dissolve the house before more violence takes place.

[jumnien]

Sondhi can stop the violence at any time. Just tell his flock to go home and enjoy their lives!

[sylviex]

PM Somchai abruptly cancels trips to neighbouring countries

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat abruptly cancelled all his foreign trips to neighboring countries Laos, Cambodia and Burma.

It is still unclear why why he scrapped the trips which have planned for weeks since he took office.

The Nation

Edited October 10, 2008 by sylviex