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State of emergency in force in Bangkok amid reported coup

Tanks surrounded Government House last night and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid signs of the first attempted coup in Thailand in 15 years.

"The prime minister, with the approval of the Cabinet, declares serious emergency law in Bangkok from now on," Thaksin said on Channel 9 from New York.

Thaksin, in New York for a UN summit, ordered troops not to "move illegally." He also told the heads of the armed forces to report to acting Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya.

He also said he was ordering the transfer of the nation's army chief to work in the prime minister's office, effectively suspending him from his military duties.

Dozens of soldiers entered the Government House building, according to reporters inside.

Around 50 soldiers inside Government House ordered police to lay down their weapons shortly after tanks surrounded the building, a witness said

Army TV broadcast images of the royal family and songs associated in the past with military coups.

Government officials said Thaksin, in the middle of a political crisis fomented by a street campaign against him, planned to return from New York early tomorrow, a day earlier than originally scheduled.

A general election scheduled for next month was postponed last week. The poll was called after the results of last April's elections were annulled.

Military chiefs had vowed the army would stay out of the mess left by the April polls, but with 23 coups or attempted coups during 74 years of on-off democracy, many view their protestations with scepticism.

Speculation about military intervention has been rife, with motorists calling traffic radio stations last week after tanks were spotted in Bangkok. The army said it was merely soldiers returning from exercises.
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