Cheer up, Thailand – that’s an order.

If Prayuth Chan-ocha’s decision to stage Thailand’s latest in a long list of coups was as impulsive as he suggests, then the general has a Herculean task managing the fallout and deciding what happens next.

THAI troops hunted for militant protesters who left parts of Bangkok in flames as the authorities extended a night curfew in the capital despite tentative signs of a return to normality.