I hope that installing a Muslim Prime Minister isn’t the way nations are going to try to deal with terrorists, especially if he wants to negotiate with them:
Striking when Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, army commander Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin sent tanks and troops into the drizzly, nighttime streets of Bangkok. The military ringed Thaksin’s offices, seized control of television stations and declared a provisional authority loyal to the king.
The coup leaders declared martial law, revoked the constitution and ordered all troops not to leave duty stations without permission from their commanders. The stock exchange was to be closed Wednesday, along with schools, banks and government offices.
[…]
Sondhi, who is known to be close to Thailand’s revered constitutional monarch, will serve as acting prime minister, army spokesman Col. Akarat Chitroj said. Sondhi, well-regarded within the military, is a Muslim in this Buddhist-dominated nation.
Sondhi, 59, was selected last year to head the army partly because it was felt he could better deal with the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand, where 1,700 people have been killed since 2004. Recently, Sondhi urged negotiations with the separatists in contrast to Thaksin’s hard-fisted approach. Many analysts have said that with Thaksin in power, peace in the south was unlikely.
And if democracy was destroyed in my country, I think I would be a lot more than “disappointed” and I wouldn’t go around taking picture:
Many people were surprised, but few in Bangkok seemed disappointed.
A few dozen people raced over to the prime minister’s office to take pictures of tanks surrounding the area. “This is exciting. Someone had to do this. It’s the right thing,” said Somboon Sukheviriya, 45, software developer snapping pictures of the armored vehicles with his cell phone.
[…]
“I don’t agree with the coup, but now that they’ve done it, I support it because Thaksin has refused to resign from his position,” said Sasiprapha Chantawong, a university student. “Allowing Thaksin to carry on will ruin the country more than this. The reputation of the country may be somewhat damaged, but it’s better than letting Thaksin stay in power.”
He was among hundreds of people gathered at Government House taking photos and video of themselves with the tanks.
OK, maybe I would take some shots for the blog.
(link via little green footballs)
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