BANGKOK (AP) — Without firing a shot, Thailand’s powerful
military seized control of this volatile Southeast Asian nation
Thursday, suspending the constitution and detaining Cabinet ministers in
a risky bid to end half a year of political upheaval that many fear
will only deepen the nation’s crisis.
The coup, the second in
eight years, accomplished in a few minutes what anti-government
protesters backed by the nation’s traditional elite and staunch
royalists had failed to achieve on the street: the overthrow of a
democratically elected government they had accused of corruption.
The
new junta leader, army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, announced he was
taking power almost immediately after talks between the nation’s bitter
political rivals
— which lasted a mere four hours over the last two
days — ended in deadlock and the government refused to resign.
Prayuth
claimed he had to act to restore stability and "quickly bring the
situation back to normal" amid increasing spasms of violence that
together with controversial court rulings had rendered the government
powerless and the country profoundly divided.
But troubles for
Thailand, a regional economic hub whose idyllic white-sand beaches and
elephant-filled jungles draw millions of tourists a year, could be just
beginning.
"We’re likely to see dark days ahead," said Thitinan
Pongsudhirak, a political analyst at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University,
referring to the possibility of violent resistance from the ousted
government’s supporters.
The deposed administration of acting
Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, which was summoned to appear
before the junta Thursday night, seemed to have gone into hiding and
made no statement condemning the coup. Four of its ministers, ordered to
an army compound for talks earlier in the day, were in custody, along
with top protest leaders.
"The rest of us who are outside are
still fine and in safe places," said the ex-premier’s adviser, Paradorn
Pattanathabutr. "The situation is very worrying. We … don’t know what
else can happen."
The army, which imposed martial law in a
surprise move Tuesday that many sensed was a prelude to taking full
power, imposed a nationwide curfew that began at 10 p.m. — a clear sign
it is concerned about potential unrest. During the last coup, in 2006,
Bangkok residents moved freely and wrapped yellow ribbons and flowers
around tank turrets until dawn.
Prayuth called on the public not
to panic this time, either. But the vast capital’s elevated train,
subway and bus stations shut down early, filling with long queues as
anxious office workers rushed home along increasingly empty streets.
After
nightfall, troops deployed armored personnel carriers to block main
roads, including one in front of the U.S. Embassy, and diverted traffic
at key intersections. Major highways were virtually devoid of traffic,
extraordinary for the normally bustling metropolis of 10 million.
International cable news channels, including CNN and BBC, were taken off air.
Earlier,
armed troops dispersed demonstrators from protest sites where competing
groups were camped out — one filled with thousands of Red Shirts who
support the now-ousted elected government, the other with those who had
struggled for seven months to unseat it.
U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry condemned the takeover and warned it would "have negative
implications for the U.S.-Thai relationship," but did not announce
immediate punitive steps. The State Department said it was reviewing
millions in aid.
"There is no justification for this military
coup," Kerry said in a statement that also called for the release of
detained political leaders and a return of press freedom.
The
day’s dramatic events were the culmination of a societal schism laid
bare after the 2006 coup deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, a billionaire tycoon whose populist movement has won every
national election since 2001.
The conflict pits a majority rural
poor in the north and northeast, who benefited from Thaksin’s populist
policies, against an urban-based elite based in Bangkok and the south
that is concerned it is losing power.
It is a divide that has led
to upheaval multiple times in recent years, and sometimes death. The
latest crisis alone has claimed 28 lives and left more than 800 wounded
since November.
Thailand’s political tensions have played out
against a backdrop of fears about the future of its monarchy. Thaksin’s
critics have accused him of disrespecting ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej
and trying to gain influence with Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the
heir to the throne.
On Wednesday, a day after Prayuth declared
martial law — and insisted a coup was not underway — he summoned protest
leader Suthep Thaugsuban to talks with rival Red Shirt leader Jatuporn
Prompan and senior government ministers at an army complex in Bangkok.
They
met again Thursday, but the impasse was unresolved. After just two
hours, Prayuth left the meeting, and the situation quickly deteriorated.
The power grab appeared to be well-orchestrated.
Armed
troops swiftly entered the conference room, and olive-green military
trucks blocked the building’s entrance, sealing everyone else inside.
Troops with automatic weapons drawn fanned out and took positions,
waving journalists away. Suthep and Jatuporn were escorted out by
soldiers and taken into custody, as were the four Cabinet ministers.
Regular
TV programming was suspended, and half an hour later, Prayuth appeared,
flanked by the heads of the armed forces and police.
The National
Peace and Order Maintaining Council was duty-bound to "take over the
governing of the country," he said, adding that the aim was "to let the
people have love and unity as in the past, and to reform the political
and economic systems, and to grant equality to every side."
"We
ask the public not to panic and carry on their lives normally," Prayuth
said, adding that the military would "provide protection" for foreigners
in Thailand.
Although Prayuth had tried to cast himself as a
neutral mediator, shutting down partisan TV stations and summoning
leaders from both sides, analysts say he had a simple goal. "I think the
intention was to get the government to resign, and when that didn’t
happen, they took over power," Thitinan said.
In the hours
following the takeover, TV stations broadcast only decades-old military
and patriotic music, interrupted periodically by edicts from the junta,
including one announcing the government’s dissolution and the suspension
of the 2007 constitution — a charter the military had drawn up itself
after the last coup.
The junta, however, said the Senate would remain in place.
Ominously, it also ordered 18 Cabinet ministers, including the premier, to report immediately to the
country’s new rulers.
A
similar order was issued after midnight to Thaksin’s sister, former
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who came to power in a landslide
vote in 2011 and was removed by the Constitutional Court this month for
alleged abuse of power.
The anti-government protesters have
declared the destruction of the Shinawatra political machine as one of
their major goals, and the announcement seemed to indicate the army was
pursuing a similar agenda.
Although there remains profound anxiety
about Thailand’s fate — the pro-government Red Shirt supporters have
warned they would not tolerate the unconstitutional installation of an
unelected leader.
The coup Thursday was the 12th since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932.
In Bangkok, there was relief that protesters were finally gone from the streets they had occupied for so
long.
"I
hope the soldiers have come out this time to solve the problem once and
for all," said Pinkaew Pipatada, 65, a flower vendor at the Erawan
shrine, a popular tourist site in central Bangkok. "This is the fourth
coup I’ve seen in my life now."
In a statement in Bangkok, Karim
Lahidji, who heads the International Federation for Human Rights, said
"the military’s seizure of power has become routine and a sad reality of
Thai politics" and warned it would plunge "Thailand into a deeper
political crisis."
___
Associated Press writers Jocelyn
Gecker, Grant Peck and Ian Mader in Bangkok, and Lolita Baldor and
Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.