I should probably wait to start the thread but I wanted to see if anyone else had better details. It just came across the wires from our news service. I can't find a link to a story anywhere but it was reported.
Go to www.nationmultimedia.com, it is one of the 2 english language dailies in BKK, they have some stories up on it. Thus far it is just rumors, but I wouldn't be surprised if they finally got rid of Taksin, who really just needed to go.
I should add that Thaksin himself is here in New York in th emiddle of a long trip abroad. I read a report last week in the thai paper that said he took 40 suitcases with him so he might have known this was coming.
Wow that is pretty amazing. I was in Thailand 2 years ago during their last election and Thaksin seemed to be riding pretty high. His strong response to the tsunami and no-nonsense style seemed to be earning him positive reviews. I had heard Thailand was having some economic and other problems but hadn't realized things had gotten so bad.
CNN is reporting that the PM has declared a state of emergency and tanks are rolling through Bangkok.
lol the PM just said the coup talk was ridiculous and then it was reported that the leaders of the coup are telling police to lay down their weapons.
He has been embroiled in a massive official corruption scandal stemming from the sale of his company. He has literally been on the ropes since I was last there in December and has sort of resigned or promised to resign for months, he just won't leave. His latest ploy has been a number of "mysterious" assassination attempts believed by many to have been staged by his own supporters to rally support for his own side. I wouldn't be surprised if the "coup" is also alleged to be faked. For whatever reason (most believe due to bribery) he gets a lot of support in rural areas but he is very unpopular in the cities among students and the middle & upper classes - save for his cronies).
now from thai tv they are saying the armed forces leader and police leader have set up a political reform commission.
Maybe he works for the common man but The Upper crust rich city folx don't like him *shrug* Alot of times in politics . .. crony-ism comes down to HIS cronies. . versus THEIR Cronies I wonder will the next folx [the COUP folx] be more just What is your feeling on this? will they? and what is their attitude toward the U S Rocket River
He came from a rich family and just sold his cellphone company for 2 billion dollars, so I'm cynical about his use of the common man other than to further his own interest.
Thanks for the info Sam. I just read the MSNBC article and it sounds like a full blown coup is happening. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14906669/ I also saw the piece about the corruption charges regarding the tax free sale of his telecommunications company. I find it interesting that most of his support is rural since the impression I had when I was there was that was that most his support was city based. I guess since I was in Southern Thailand his efforts against the insurgency weren't that popular and while most Thais and the World Community gave him high marks for his handling of the tsunami many of the people in Phuket weren't that impressed. This still seems pretty amazing since when I was in Asia people were comparing him to Bill Clinton in terms of his smoothness and ability to remain popular in the face of scandal.
From what I read it sounds like all of the tourists areas are still OK and I would guess that Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai are far enough from Bangkok to not get that affected. On top of that the Thais are smart enough to keep tourism going as that is a major part of their economy.
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free You'll find a god in every golden cloister And if you're lucky then the god's a she I can feel an angel sliding up to me
