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.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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