Thai army takes power in televised coup d'etat

Thailand's military has mounted a coup, using a televised statement to declare that it had become "necessary to seize power".

The head of the Thai army, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, made the announcement this morning alongside senior military officers.

Soldiers blockaded the venue where political parties had been holding talks to try to resolve the crisis, and "took away" the leaders, the BBC reports.

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The move comes after months of violent protests which have left 27 people dead, and just two days after the military imposed martial law.

"In order for the situation to return to normal quickly and for society to love and be at peace again ... and to reform the political, economic and social structure, the military needs to take control of power," Prayuth said in the televised announcement.

After the address, a senior army official told Reuters that troops would "escort protests away from their rally sites".

The Thai government has been "paralysed" for six months, the New York Times says, since protesters began to rally against the country's most powerful political family, the Shinawatras.

Protesters have been blockading several parts of Bangkok since the end of last year, and the military has pledged to bring the Thai capital back under control.

Before the coup, the acting Prime Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan said that it was "impossible" for his government to resign as its critics were demanding, as such an act would contravene the constitution. "The government wants the problem solved in a democratic way which includes a government that comes from elections," he said.

Since the end of the country's absolute monarchy in 1932, there have been 11 coups and seven attempted coups, giving Thailand "the dubious accolade of being one of the world's most coup-prone countries," the BBC notes.

Thai military declares martial law but denies coup

20 May

Thailand's army has declared martial law after six months of violent unrest that has unseated the prime minister and led to the death of at least 27 people. Army generals insist they are not staging a coup, but had to act "to preserve law and order".

Tanks now block the major arterial routes into and out of the capital, Bangkok. The military has also taken over TV and radio stations, the BBC reports. Soldiers have also moved to take control of the main government building which has lain unoccupied for months.

The move was announced on the military's television channel and, despite the political confusion and street protests, "came as a surprise" to most people, The Guardian reports.

"The political crisis seems to have reached a tipping point," John Blaxland, a senior fellow at the Australian National University's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in Canberra told Bloomberg. "The one institution that remains the arbiter of power in Thailand is the military. The politics have gotten so toxic there aren't many viable alternatives to martial law."

The BBC's Jonathan Head described the move as a "half-coup" but said it could become a complete one if the army acted to break the political deadlock. Thailand's army has staged 11 successful coups since the country's monarchy came to an end in 1932.

The recent protests are the latest episode in a 12-year struggle that has seen the largely rural supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra pitted against the country's traditional political establishment.

Thailand's problems deepened two weeks ago when the country's constitutional court removed prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra on charges of negligence, in a move many regarded as politically motivated.

But anti-government protesters backed the move, believing that Yingluck had been serving as a proxy for her brother Thaksin, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Protesters began blockading several parts of the Thai capital late last year. In response to the unrest, Yingluck called a snap general election in February that her party was expected to win, but protesters managed to disrupt the election and its results were later annulled.

Thailand crisis: protesters shut down areas of Bangkok

13 January

PROTESTERS in Bangkok have barricaded roads and occupied key road junctions in a bid to oust the government before elections on 2 February. Around 18,000 security personnel have been deployed to maintain order, as protesters call for an unelected "people's council" to replace the government.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called the snap elections amid ongoing protests, but the move has failed to calm unrest. The current protests are the latest stage in a 12-year power struggle between supporters and opponents of Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's billionaire brother and fugitive former prime minister.

Who are the protesters?

Many of the protesters come from the middle classes, backed by the country's royalist and bureaucratic elite, says the Wall Street Journal. They are opposed to Yingluck, who they believe is serving as a proxy for her brother Thaksin, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He now lives in self-imposed exile overseas, but remains popular with many rural voters. The demonstrations are being led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a former Thai deputy prime minister who resigned from the opposition Democrat Party to lead the rallies.

What do they want?

The protesters want to overthrow Yingluck's democratically-elected government and replace it with an unelected "people's council". Suthep claims Shinawatra's Pheu Thai party "bought votes" in the last election through irresponsible spending pledges and wants the Shinawatra family to be purged from politics. The main opposition party is now boycotting the 2 February polls and protesters have called for a two-year period without elections in which an appointed committee would reform Thailand's political system. Yingluck has offered to meet protest leaders to discuss potentially delaying the polls but has said she will not accept a "people's council" that was unconstitutional.

How did the protests begin?

They kicked off in November after the country's lower house passed a controversial amnesty bill, which critics said could allow former leader Thaksin to return to Thailand without serving time in jail for corruption. The amnesty bill, proposed by Yingluck's party, was eventually rejected by the Senate. However, anti-government protests have continued, with up to 100,000 taking to the streets to rally last year. At least eight people have been killed since the protests began.

What happened over the weekend?

On Saturday, unknown gunmen opened fire on demonstrators at the main rally site in Bangkok, injuring at least seven people, and on Sunday night an unidentified gunman attacked demonstrators at another protest site, shooting at least one man. Thousands of people are reported to have turned out for today's demonstrations. Protesters say they want to achieve a "shutdown" of the capital. Seven major intersections have been blocked. Protesters also plan to surround key ministries and cut off their power supply in a bid to prevent them from functioning, says the BBC, with around 150 schools told to close.

What next?

It remains uncertain whether or not the 2 February elections will go ahead. Yesterday the Election Commission, an independent body that organises the polls, recommended that the government postpone them. Meanwhile, Bangkok has swirled with speculation that today’s mass rallies could trigger violent confrontation, forcing the army to intervene, says the Wall Street Journal.