COUP IN THAILAND?

The Islamic Jihad in Thailand takes a new turn. FOX is reporting that tanks are rolling through the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, amid rumors of a coup attempt. Reasons are not clear.

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called a state of emergency as coup rumors sweep Bangkok.

There are rumors of a coup in Thailand, where an Army-owned TV station has suspended regular programming. CBS News

Prime Minister Shinawatra Friday is a long time ally of the US and reiterated that support on Friday here.

"" Thailand and the U.S. has been treaty allies since 1833.  This is very right for me to visit and giving full support to U.S., which is our very long ally.  And it's very right for me to discuss war against terrorism and also -- economic issues that we should further enhance the cooperation among our two countries.

Shinawatra was elected in a 2001 landslide.

In early 2005, Thaksin became the first elected prime minister ever to complete his term in office. At the same time, he and his party were re-elected with nearly 70 percent of the votes, which translated into an absolute majority of 377 seats out of 500 — another first in Thai history (article here)

The next election was scheduled for October 15th. Seems to me the opposition's allegations that the recent attempted assassinaton of Shinawatra were staged as reported by Washington Post here;

In the trunk of the now infamous gray Daewoo found near Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's urban mansion late last month was a bomb with a bit of everything. Weighing more than 10 pounds and packed with C4 explosives, military detonators and two sticks of dynamite with short fuses, it was hardly inconspicuous.

Little wonder that Thaksin's detractors immediately labeled him a fraud, charging his camp with orchestrating a fake assassination attempt to curry sympathy with voters ahead of elections. Bangkok newspapers ran endless satires on the episode involving the man they have come to call "Thug Sin."

 

RELATED: 09/17/06 : Thailand Terror Update 

09/16/06 : RoP Strikes in Thailand 

09/05/06 : Thailand Jihad Death Toll 

08/31/06: Religion of Peace Strikes in Thailand 

08/03/06: RoP Strikes Again in Thailand 

08/01/06 : RoP Launches Multiple Attacks in Thailand 

07/25/06: RoP Strikes in Thailand

UPDATE: Coup in Thailand lead by Muslim commander-in-chief who almost exactly a year ago was appointed to the position to supposedly appease violent Muslim uprisings in the south...see the news article below from last year. More here hat tip MJB

Thailand: Mollifying the Muslim Pacification by PR

Bangkok announced today that the position of commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army had been filled by an unusual candidate: the first Muslim to hold the office in the nation's history.

The appointment, which came in the name of the titular King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was rumored for weeks. The generals in Thailand more or less swap positions every year, but General Sonthi Boonyaratglin is believed to be the highest-ranking Muslim ever to ascend the ranks of the army. In promoting Boonyaratglin, the government is hoping to bring order to the violent southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where more than 800 (and possibly as many as 1,200) people have died in bombings and targeted attacks by Muslim insurgents.

Boonyaratglin claims that he will take a "new and effective" approach to a crisis that has all of the attributes of a low-intensity civil war. He dismissed claims that the government, almost two years after the uprising began, still has little information about the insurgent groups fighting against them.

"The army is informed [of who the insurgents are] and will carry out their duties," he said.

Which duties?

 

Comments

[Richard Davis]

The General who led the Coup is a Muslim?

well shut my mouth...

Funny you can't find that information in the Fifth Column.