Thailand is in Deep Sh*t!!!

[AdventWings]

If you're awake now, check CNN at once.

UPDATE: I have the CNN news briefing here.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/19/thailand.coup.rumor/index.html

Luckily, this will only be in Bangkok and surrounding areas. If it ever gets as far north as Chiang Mai, everyone is in deep deep.

Including me.

UPDATE 2: As for the "suspected coup" the news was talking about... Well, it's safe to say the "suspected" part can be ignored.

It's not a rumor.

Deep shit...

[Letho]

I don't get it. What's the reason for this sudden coup?

[AdventWings]

Well, to answer that I'll give you a quote from New York Times:


He said he was ordering the transfer of the nation's army chief to work in the prime minister's office, effectively suspending him from his military duties.

"He" referring to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

It was a fine line that finally snapped. Thaksin was under a lot of scrutiny for not stepping down from power after having already lost the most recent election. He called it null and void.

That was back in April. There was already a lot of anti-Shinawatra sentiments within the military, one of which resulted in the attempted carbomb last month.

Man... I Should've seen that coming a mile away...

UPDATE: Here's the New York Times news brief.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Thailand.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Letho]

Them soldiers certainly love their army chief a whole lot since they decided to sieze the capitol just to get him his job back. Why was the Prime Minister removing the army chief from his job? Power struggle?

[AdventWings]

That's what I think as well.

I don't have the entire story just yet, but hopefully no one is going to start shooting each other. There are rumors about the two sides trading bullets already - and I don't mean the unused kind...

[Ithermoss]

Holy fuck.

[Vorin]

Please don't die.

Letho, do something. Save him. Or Jesus. I really don't care.

Be safe.

[LordLeopold]

Thaksin's removal of the army chief is the excuse the army wanted in order to toss him out of office. There's been a political crisis for several months in Thailand sparked by Thaksin's corruption, and a series of mass protests against him that almost brought him out of power probably convinced the army that having him around was a long-term liability, from a financial and international security standpoint, especially considering the ongoing Muslim insurgency in the south. The fact that the army chief is a Muslim also probably had something to do with his mental calculus. They say the army chief is close to the king. Perhaps the king gave the coup plotters tacit approval?

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if the army returns the country to democracy relatively quickly, even if the government is more influenced by the army in the future. This seems to be a greivance against Thaksin, not the system of government; hence, the plotters waited until he was out of the country to stage their putsch instead of just gunning him down in Bangkok.

[Daggertail]

yeah I hope this turns out alright and you still have all your rights intact. These things can be messy but all I can hope that it doesn't cause too much trouble. Good luck Raven.