Time : A Festive Coup in Thailand

A Festive Coup in Thailand

On Scene: After having spent much of the spring trying on their own to force out their elected government, many Thai citizens are happy to let the military do the job

By HANNAH BEECH/BANGKOK | September 19, 2006

It was near midnight on Tuesday, tanks had rolled up to Bangkok's Government House and the monsoons were drenching the crowds. But the mood during Thailand's first military coup since 1992—the previous one ended with protesters gunned down in the streets—was remarkably festive. Women in mini-skirts posed for pictures in front of tanks, while elderly men in pajamas jabbered on cellphones. Last spring, hundreds of thousands of Thai citizens had organized daily peaceful protests on Bangkok streets, calling for the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose popularity in urban areas had nosedived after the controversial sale of his family telecom business. Now, after months of political instability, the military brass appeared to have gotten much closer to unseating the Thai leader than months of democratic assembly had. "Of course, I wish that the political situation had been solved in a democratic way," says Makarathep Thepkanjana, a physician who joined the anti-Thaksin rallies back in the spring and who was now standing next to a tank at the gates of Government House. "But, we are exhausted from having so many rallies. We're happy that the military coup is happening, because it means that Thaksin will be gone."

Welcome to democracy Thai style. Late on Tuesday evening, with satellite feeds of BBC and CNN intermittently jammed, a military spokesman announced on Thai TV that the armed forces, under the command of Army Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, had taken over Bangkok and surrounding areas and was declaring martial law. The spokesman blamed the military's extreme measures on what he termed corrupt practices by Thaksin, alleging that the Prime Minister had hampered the workings of both parliament and the courts. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a constitutional monarch, was named as interim head of state, although the spokesman promised that a new caretaker would be named. (Cavalry regiment soldiers stationed by Government House had yellow ribbons, a color associated with the monarchy, tied to their uniforms and rifles in an apparent signal that the coup enjoyed the King's tacit support.) By 3 a.m., TV announcers had declared Wednesday a holiday for most citizens, while civil servants were asked to report to military bases at 9 a.m.

Rumors of an army rebellion had been floating through Bangkok for weeks, and they only intensified when Thaksin left for a trip abroad earlier this month. (He was in New York on Tuesday when the coup occurred, from where he declared a state of emergency.) The coup also comes just one day before the scheduled resumption of anti-Thaksin protests similar to the ones that brought hundreds of thousands of people to Bangkok streets earlier this year. Plumber Somchai Nityomrath had planned to go to Wednesday's rallies but instead showed up at Government House on Tuesday night to lend support to the coup plotters inside. "I came because I'm so happy," he says. "The democratic process has been taken over by Thaksin, so it's time for the people to take back democracy with the military's help." The Prime Minister had been voted to power in three landslide elections, most recently in April. But that vote was invalidated after opposition parties boycotted it. Thaksin's popularity in urban areas—he remains well-liked among rural poor—began to wane early this year after the tax-free sale of his family's telecom firm, Shin Corp, for $1.9 billion, a transaction that was regarded by some as an abuse of power. He has also been criticized for filling many government positions with his supporters. The military, too, has been stacked with Thaksin appointees, including his family members, according to top defense analyst Panitan Wattanayagorn. One of Thaksin's duties after returning from abroad was to sign off on a major military reshuffle that could have demoted more members of Gen. Sondhi's anti-Thaksin faction.

Whether the coup will, in fact, end Thaksin's tenure isn't yet clear. Nor is it certain whether democracy will follow the military maneuver. In the 1970s and 1980s, Thailand experienced nearly a dozen coups, which hardly helped nurture democracy. "The success of this coup will hinge on whether the military can quickly name a new caretaker leader and show that they are committed to democratic governance," says Panitan.

For now, the coup plotters must first make sure that Thaksin loyalists within the military don't stage a counter-coup. "Then things could get violent," warns Panitan. Such military intrigue, though, was lost on the sunburned tourists who were driving by Government House in the back of tuk-tuks, as the local automated trishaws are called. "What's going on?" asked one English-speaking passerby with large tattoos on his shoulders, as he glanced at four soldiers lounging on a tank. "Is it a party?" Who knows how long the festive mood on Bangkok streets will last.

—with reporting by Robert Horn/Bangkok