Military coup ousts ‘corrupt’ Thai PM
Mr Thaksin telephoned a Thai television station from New York to announce a state of emergency in an apparent attempt to head off the coup.
A government spokesman with him at the United Nations said the army could not succeed and added: “We’re in control”.
However, tanks and troops took over Government House in Thailand’s first coup in 15 years, and a spokesman said the army and police were in control of the capital and surrounding provinces.
Armoured vehicles and soldiers took up position on many street corners, but life in most of Bangkok continued as usual with traffic moving through rain drenched streets and the airport operating normally.
The seizure would be temporary and power “returned to the people” soon, retired Lieutenant-General Prapart Sakuntanak said, in a statement broadcast on all Thai television channels.
Foreign news channels, including CNN and the BBC, were cut off.
The army told all soldiers to report to base and banned unauthorised troop movements, suggesting the military leadership was worried that Thaksin loyalists in the armed forces might attempt a counter-coup.
Lt Gen Prapart said the armed forces and police had set up a body to decide on political reforms, ousting billionaire telecoms tycoon Thaksin in the midst of a political crisis stemming from accusations that he had subverted Thailand’s 74-year-old democracy.
“Never in Thai history have the people been so divided,” Prapart said.
“The majority of people had become suspicious of this administration, which is running the country through rampant corruption,” he added.
“Independent bodies have been interfered with so much they could not perform in line within the spirit of the constitution.”
Weerasak Kohsurat, a deputy minister in a previous government, said he believed royal adviser Sumate Tantivejakul would steer the political reform process.
Elections would be called when it was done and Thaksin, Thailand’s longest serving elected prime minister, would be allowed to take part, he said.
Thaksin himself was scheduled to address the opening of the UN General Assembly at 11pm yesterday, and it was not immediately clear when he would return to Bangkok.
After mass street protests against him in Bangkok, Thaksin, winner of two election landslides, called a snap poll in April, hoping his firm rural following would counter his metropolitan opponents.
However, opposition parties argued he had skewed neutral bodies such as the Election Commission in his favour and boycotted the poll, rendering the election result invalid.
Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party was expected to win a re-run, tentatively scheduled for late November, increasing pressure on his opponents in the military and the old establishment to resort to removing him by force.
“There is no other means to solve the political deadlock,” said a former senior official close to the top military brass.
“It’s been almost a year that the country has no democracy, no legitimate government.
“I’ve told foreign diplomats Thailand may need to take a step backward ... in order to leap forward.”
The Thai baht, one of Asia’s strongest currencies this year, suffered its biggest fall in three years within hours of the coup.
