Thailand Coup

Army Chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha staged a coup on Thursday (May 22), "taking over powers" in this Southeast Asian nation and locking up several top political leaders, sparking fears of a violent backlash by thousands of Thais demanding a return to elections and democracy.

Thailand is a vital non-NATO treaty ally of Washington, but U.S. law requires cancellation of some military aid and other assistance when the military topples an elected government.

"In the interest of rule and order, we are taking over powers," Gen. Prayuth announced on nationwide TV in the late afternoon.

"Please do not panic, and carry on with your daily activities," grim-faced Gen. Prayuth said, flanked by a handful of other military leaders at a long table.

"Our co-leaders -- including Jatuporn, Nattawut, Thida, Veerakarn, and Korkeaw -- have been detained," tweeted the leaders' office, minutes after Gen. Prayuth announced his coup.

Those politicians lead the pro-democracy Red Shirts who represent much of the popular electorate which voted the government into power.

Their enemy Suthep Thaugsuban -- who supported the military amid hopes they would install an appointed regime of technocrats instead of politicians -- was also reportedly detained.

All of them had been lured to meet Gen. Prayuth on Thursday (May 22) at the Army Club in Bangkok for a second day of talks to end six months of confrontations in Bangkok's streets led by Mr. Suthep and his frustrated followers who have been unable to win in elections.

It was unclear what was said during those talks, but Gen. Prayuth seized power while they were behind closed doors.

Thousands of angry Red Shirts have been camping out on Bangkok's outskirts, threatening to act if the U.S.-trained military overthrew the elected government.

Soon after Gen. Prayuth's announcement in the late afternoon, troops began moving toward that rally site.

Gen. Prayuth had clashed in 2010 when Red Shirts who demanded elections during their nine-week-long insurrection in Bangkok's streets, resulting in 90 deaths, most of them civilians but also some soldiers.

Earlier, in 2006, Gen. Prayuth participated in a bloodless coup against the popularly elected government of then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, which polarized the country and fueled the political chaos which continues to convulse this prosperous Buddhist-majority country.

When "a coup has taken place in Thailand, the United States will be required to end much of its aid," a Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) analysis said.

"Following the last military coup in 2006 which ousted the prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the United States froze military aid to Thailand including funds for military sales, training officers under the International Military Education and Training program, and funding for peacekeeping and counter-terrorism training," it said.

"The 1961 Foreign Assistance Act says the United States 'restricts assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree'," said the Singapore-based CSIS report on Tuesday (May 20) by Ernest Z. Bower and Murray Hiebert.

Gen Prayuth, who has opposed Thailand's elected governments since participating in a 2006 coup, declared martial law on Tuesday (May 20) and immediately unleashed harsh restrictions against the media.

In response, Thais and foreigners -- including American, British and other expats resident in Thailand -- are blasting Gen. Prayuth amid widespread expectations that he will not allow fresh nationwide elections any time soon.

"I do not recall having voted for General Prayuth, nor handing him my consent to rule over me and the rest of us like a dictator," wrote Pravit Rojanaphruk, a respected analyst.

"Martial law as a drug to suppress political diarrhea won't solve anything in the long run," Mr. Pravit said.

Hours later, he worriedly tweeted to British Broadcasting Corp. correspondent Jonah Fisher: "If I'm no longer tweeting then let it be known that I am being censored or literally removed under martial law. #freethailand".

Some activist Thai lawyers are questioning the legality of Gen. Prayuth's power grab but Prachathai, a popular website, posted a report by Thaweeporn Kummetha which said, "Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha decided to intervene by illegally declaring the Martial Law."

George Soros's Open Society Foundation donated more than $200,000 to Prachathai since 2004, while the Rockefeller Foundation and other international groups also funded the site which said "our foreign donors" did not "interfere with our reporting."

About half of the general's first dozen "Martial Law Order" edits involve controlling the media.

All text, photos, TV and radio broadcasts, plus satellite and other online telecommunications, are "prohibited" if they report "distorted" information which "could cause social division and unrest," or "widespread fear," Gen. Prayuth's self-created Peace and Order Maintaining Command declared.

They must immediately report any "announcements from the Royal Thai Army" when told to do so.

"Thai media banned from carrying interviews with anyone who might 'confuse society.' I've fallen into a Kafka/Orwell world and can't get up," Ezra Kyrill Erker tweeted.

"Today I'm going to enjoy some Martial Law," tweeted Lucky Erawan.

More than a dozen private TV broadcasters and scores of small radio stations have been shut, but mainstream media has been largely left to self-censor its content.

Some websites have been targeted by martial law, which uses technology to forcibly change the address to: "58.97.5.29/announce/martial_law.html" and show a statement in red warning that it has been blocked.

In response, geeks began deconstructing the military's online censorship.

The army set up an "Online Subcommittee, with direct access to ISPs," tweeted @thainetizen, referring to Internet Service Providers which help link Thailand to the rest of the world.

"Websites taken down in 1 hour after an order" from the military, the tweet warned.

"It's not a coup, it's martial law with no real government in charge," a portrayal of Gen. Prayuth declares in an comic by Bangkok-based French editorial cartoonist Stephan Peray.

"The hypocritical West is strongly condemning this half-a-coup," a Western diplomat in the background says, while flies circle his bald head to indicate what is inside.

Two sexy Thai girls take selfies while hugging a distraught Thai soldier in the cartoon, mocking the real-life fad on Bangkok's streets of anti-election protesters gleefully taking photos of themselves alongside troops enforcing martial law.

Gen. Prayuth's military has not been successful on the battlefield against seemingly unstoppable Islamist insurgents who are fighting for a separate ethnic Malay homeland in the south, where more than 4,500 people on all sides have died since 2004.

Focusing on politics, the military has wedged itself into Thailand's current confrontation between the majority of Thais who want to keep their voting rights and elect governments, while a minority hopes the military will install an appointed dictatorial administration.

Gen. Prayuth summoned all sides to their first ever talks on Wednesday (May 21) and they met again on Thursday (May 22).

But they mostly repeated their hard-fought positions for and against having an election now.

"There must be the establishment of a new government without politicians," said the anti-election movement's Facebook site.

A February election was annulled after an anti-government insurrection blocked voters from reaching booths, and disrupted the distribution of ballots in 10 percent of the country.

At that time, security forces stood idle, claiming they did not want to cause bloodshed.

Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news from Asia since 1978, and recipient of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "Hello My Big Big Honey!" Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final chapter, "Ceremonies and Regalia," in a new book titled King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective.

His websites are
http://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/animists/sets
https://gumroad.com/l/RHwa

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