Thai army chief announces military coup

[DirtFarmer]

THe Army just announced scrapping the Constitution Channel News Asia I guess they will not even reference it now all bets are off.. Fast and Furious Forty are writing their Hineys off

[sumtingwong]

That IS good news.

[Emster23]

Whoever is in charge in Thailand will be corrupt. Color of shirt or uniform only difference. Army is like corporation with heavy weapons. Thaksin corrupt, and Suthep more than match him in that department, if you look at his record. And two days is hardly long enough to work out problems. Only reform elite will accept is taking votes away from the people, since they can't win elections. Slave revolts can get nasty.

[sumtingwong]

Thailand has now been LIBERATED.

[ajarnmarc]

Suthep arrested is the best thing to come out of this.

Just couldn't believe he was given such a long rope...

glad it was finally tightened, to hopefully shut him up for once,

and put him where he belonged all along... far from any stage.

Now lets see how long it takes to get Thailand back on track,

and humming again???

That will be the billion baht question,

considering how long this crazy circus was allowed to beat their drums,

and blow their proud horns.

Aside from Suthep being silenced; I hope...

This isn't a good day,

but when we consider how long it will take to discover a promising politician who can lead this unpredictable country,

there really wasn't much choice, was there?

The Prime Minster will also have to be very daring to run,

considering Thailand has failed to let a single one run it's term in over a decade.

This position apparently has a mountain of obstacles to overcome,

and it's power can simply be taken away at a moments notice if the people decide it's time to change the guard,

and remove him or her from their perspective, elected seat.

What a battle Thailand & the future Prime Minister face.

It's hard to see or at least appears so, as to what the rewards are for trying,

when there's been so much confusion for such a very long time...

[thaipod]

Anyone watched the BBC . They just interviewed a red activist and he was making all sorts of claims how the army has planned this all along and is in bed with the anti govt activists.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

VIDEO UPDATE:

Here is a video of the leaders from each side being rounded up by the army:

Source: Talay Hua Hin

-- 2014-05-22

[borune]

Everyone in Thailand is now or will soon be losers, there are no winners over the long run. Suthep will soon be released and there will be a clamp down on the red shirts and PTP. Within a year we will have a government in exile, sanctions and an insurgency war. Childish games by people with too much power.

Yes, I am afraid things will get much worse. I am sure in the next elections they won't let the Dems lose, they will rig the elections, so the army won't need to intervene again against the wills of Thai people. There is no way out . Poor Thailand.

Or they will make sure this time elections are Free and honest

all parties allowed to state there polices in all areas

No convicted criminals in Parliment

Yes things will get really bad for Thaskin when he can not use his corrupt ways at an election

hehehe Thaksin lives in Dubai a quite ok Life compared, but he love his country and his people thats his problem otherwise why bother????

[sumtingwong]

Everyone in Thailand is now or will soon be losers, there are no winners over the long run. Suthep will soon be released and there will be a clamp down on the red shirts and PTP. Within a year we will have a government in exile, sanctions and an insurgency war. Childish games by people with too much power.

Yes, I am afraid things will get much worse. I am sure in the next elections they won't let the Dems lose, they will rig the elections, so the army won't need to intervene again against the wills of Thai people. There is no way out . Poor Thailand.

Or they will make sure this time elections are Free and honest

all parties allowed to state there polices in all areas

No convicted criminals in Parliment

Yes things will get really bad for Thaskin when he can not use his corrupt ways at an election

Free?!?! Does that mean they will not pay the voters?

[jpeg]

Oh man. And they were doing so well. Guess they couldn't resist the cookie jar once they got so close. This shows that no progress has been made or is planning on being made in politics and the military can basically take over whenever they want to regardless of laws or government.

Way to prove all the critics right! I was hoping for so much better.

You really don't get it! Do you!

I'm guessing you weren't here in 2006! Were you! Sod all happened! Except for a bungled attempt to rid Thailand of Thaksin. Geddit?!

[ianf]

maybe thaksin and the ptp should have kept their mouths shut and just let everything settle instead of provoking this, no one to blame but themselves

As much as I dislike Thaksin for what he has done to this country, a lot of blame has to be laid at Suthep's door as well. Intransigence on both sides has led to this. The stupid fools had a chance, no matter how slim, of making compromises for the good of all, but would they do it? Would they h-ll. Now they may well reap the whirlwind.

Not a happy day for Thailand. I hope that cool heads prevail, even though they have not up to this point.

Dear God, Thaksin the deposed, self exiled proxy PM wasn't about to 'compromise'. Why should he? He'd nothing to lose and 'thought' he'd have everything to gain by rolling the die. On the other hand, if Suthep hadn't brought the attention of the Amnesty Bill to light, the PTP would still be filling their bank accounts/riding roughshod over DEMOCRATIC process (look it up, it doesn't mean 'We can do ANYTHING we like now'). Suthep is perceived to have overplayed his hand, BUT, the thieves have left the building. And, for now, that's all that matters. They must just get on with amending that constitution. Oh, and try to get it right this time

Well done. A most erudite post. What is interesting now is what Thaksin will do next. He's never compromised or dealt with defeat very well.

And anyone who thinks this is a bad move, ask Thaksin why he has spent years trying to get total control of this country.

[ggt]

Rival protest leaders at the talks -- held at a heavily guarded military facility in the capital -- were seen being taken away!

Very quick and effective way...to end the demonstrations...chilling effect...

[connda]

...and history repeats itself for the upteenth time. However, this is Politik-normal in the Land of Smiles. A new government will be established by the military in order to get business and national interests back on track. Some countries simply don't work well with a strictly democratic form of government. Thailand seem to have a quasi-democratic form of government that, like it or not, seems to keep the lights on and the engine running.

As far a curfews, stock up on beer and learn how to party with your friends and family instead to prowling the streets at night. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[Prbkk]

..and the caretaker cabinet stays in place? That is implied in the last statement on the constitution.

[Rimbuman]

Some countries are just not ready for democracy. Military Dictatorship may just be what Thailand needs for an extended period.

Indeed, has been like this for a long time. They cannot manage them selves. Spinning out of control and come back to earth, spinning out of control and come back to earth again, etc.

Hopefully this time they'll break this spiral and take the right steps to democracy for real. This will have impact for Thailand globally and for ASEAN, so maybe they have to get real this time.

[clinique]

Whoever is in charge in Thailand will be corrupt. Color of shirt or uniform only difference. Army is like corporation with heavy weapons. Thaksin corrupt, and Suthep more than match him in that department, if you look at his record. And two days is hardly long enough to work out problems. Only reform elite will accept is taking votes away from the people, since they can't win elections. Slave revolts can get nasty.

If memory serves me right they have had a lot longer than 2 days to sort it out. Hence the action we now see.

[tezzainoz]

It's only just begun the baht will nose dive the economy will be in crisis the tourists will go elsewhere what a sad day for Thailand .

The Army promised not to get involved another broken promise my heart goes out to those who thought they had voted for a Government to bring stability to there country sadly were back to where we started in 2006 with the Army taking control . One step forward 10 steps back same same nothing changes !!

Have you ever though that last time they thought the could trust the PTP and Thaskin

This time they have been show they can not, so reform must be put in place to stop this happening again

Please explain to me how can a government be truely democtratic when all the people who are charged with treason become members of parliment

How can a governemt been democratic when all a criminal needs to do is be on the government benches and the law can not touch him as long as parliment is sitting

I will wait for you answers with interest

[platofrank]

Suthep arrested is the best thing to come out of this.

Just couldn't believe he was given such a long rope...

glad it was finally tightened, to hopefully shut him up for once,

and put him where he belonged all along... far from any stage.

Now lets see how long it takes to get Thailand back on track,

and humming again???

That will be the billion baht question,

considering how long this crazy circus was allowed to beat their drums,

and blow their proud horns.

Aside from Suthep being silenced; I hope...

This isn't a good day,

but when we consider how long it will take to discover a promising politician who can lead this unpredictable country,

there really wasn't much choice, was there?

The Prime Minster will also have to be very daring to run,

considering Thailand has failed to let a single one run it's term in over a decade.

This position apparently has a mountain of obstacles to overcome,

and it's power can simply be taken away at a moments notice if the people decide it's time to change the guard,

and remove him or her from their perspective, elected seat.

What a battle Thailand & the future Prime Minister face.

It's hard to see or at least appears so, as to what the rewards are for trying,

when there's been so much confusion for such a very long time...

It seems you are aware of many things...take off your sunglasses and comment, if you do, truly and honestly to the facts...

it is ok that sutheps ànd thaksin are taken out of play

for thailand i hope somebody with a fresh and genuine honest mind will step forward to set thailands new standards...

i hope my hope is not idle, but i fear it is..

[kotsak]

Can't wait to read TAT's latest announcement

[Emster23]

My cable just got shut down (7:30) in Jomtien. How are things in your town?

[MILT]

Finally! Thaskin call the military's bluff and so now maybe this country can get on with proper reforms. One thing I hope is accomplished is that in the new reforms the police are prohibited from being anywhere near ballot boxes and blatant vote buying brings a serious penalty. Maybe banned from the circus show for life. Something like that but for now I will go about my business as usual.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Mister Fixit]

Amazing how many posters are in favor of the coup. If you don't remember how it was living here during the last one you will change your tune in a couple of weeks.

Why on earth would you spout such nonsense?

I was here in 2006 and on the day of the coup I went down to Pattaya because work was closed. I saw barely any soldiers and those I saw had yellow ribbons around the barrels of their guns.

Nothing was out of the ordinary in the following days, weeks and months so don't spout nonsense.

There's a new rule on here about rumour spreading and causing trouble - be careful ...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Weird... we have Happy Home Cable in Bangkok... 80 some channels.

Of those, all the Thai channels and some of the international channels are gone... except for periodic Army announcements.

But maybe 10 or so international channels are still coming thru -- Arirang, Animax, SyFy, Universal Channel, Fox News, BBC News and even Channel News Asia.

[paully]

That is implied in the last statement on the constitution.

They've just suspended that. No point referring to it now.

[ATF]

Yingluck has fled Thailand. Probably gone to Cambodia. Army was seeking her arrest. Thai News feed.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

CNA reporting that the military is saying airport travel will be allowed -- but no explanation of how transport is supposed to be arranged.

[jpeg]

Wife just read on her faithful facebook that the military round all the leaders up and hauled them away...................[hopefully in a small room with hammers for each one] and let them work it out for themselves. Hopefully it will be filmed for us to see at a later date.

Makes me wonder if/or when they'll shut down the internet, which is much more dangerous than the propaganda TV.

Oh don't be so dramatic. Didn't happen before and will definitely not happen this time.

[paully]

Yingluck has fled Thailand. Probably gone to Cambodia. Army was seeking her arrest. Thai News feed.

No doubt she already had the Louis Vuittons packed and platinum credit cards to hand..

[patjem]

Why didn't Mrs Yingluck stay in power just a little longer?

More to the point, Niwattamrung didn't attend: sounds like the the General did a deal with the notorious Khun_T from Dubai, and rounded the others up in one foul swoop

[pslfl007]

Should have done it long back !

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