Army commander Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin and five other generals on Sept. 19 staged a bloodless military coup whilst Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York attending the UN General Assembly, to which he was scheduled to make a speech on the same day. Tanks and hundreds of troops were deployed outside government buildings and major intersections in Bangkok, the capital, but there were no violent incidents or resistance to the takeover.
The military broadcast an announcement that the armed forces had taken over in the name of King Bhumibol Adulyadej to “maintain peace and order”, together with an apology for the “inconvenience” caused by the coup, which included the declaration of martial law. The spokesman accused Thaksin of corruption, lèse-majesté (an offence against the King), and constant interference with the legislature and the courts. Other communiqu&#...