Thailand’s army chief imposed martial law yesterday after months of deadly anti-government protests caused political paralysis, but insisted the intervention did not amount to yet another military coup.
Gun-toting troops fanned out after martial law was declared in a dawn broadcast, as General Prayuth Chau-ocha exploited centuries-old legislation that confers far-reaching powers on the armed forces to act in an emergency.
However, he left the caretaker civilian government in office and later invited the country’s warring political factions to sit down for talks, as the US, Japan and Southeast Asian nations urged Thailand to stay on a democratic track and resolve its differences peacefully.
Photo: EPA
Soldiers and military vehicles were seen in the heart of the capital’s retail and hotel district. Troops were also positioned at TV stations, where broadcasts were suspended under sweeping censorship orders, although regular Thais appeared largely unfazed.
The dismissal of former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier this month in a court ruling has stoked tensions in the kingdom, which has endured years of political turmoil.
Red Shirt supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup, have warned of the threat of civil war if power is handed to an unelected leader, as the opposition demands.
Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, said on Twitter that the imposition of martial law was “expected,” but must not “destroy” democracy.
New York-based Human Rights Watch branded the imposition of martial law a “de facto coup,” voicing alarm at the impact on freedom of expression.
The government officially remained in office and Prayuth presented himself as a mediator.
“We are in the process of inviting both sides to talk but at the minute the situation is still not normal... that’s why I have had to invoke martial law,” he told reporters. “The military will not tolerate any more loss of lives.”
Martial law allows the army to ban public gatherings, restrict people’s movements, conduct searches, impose curfews and detain suspects for up to seven days.
Thailand has been without a fully functioning government since December last year, disrupting government spending, spooking investors and deterring tourists.
The early-hours announcement on military-run television said martial law had been invoked “to restore peace and order for people from all sides” after nearly seven months of protests that have left 28 people dead and hundreds wounded.
“This is not a coup,” it said. “The public do not need to panic, but can still live their lives as normal.”
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS