Thursday, September 21, 2006
Thailand Coup do the job right ?
Thailand coup by Thai army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.
Thailand's latest coup d'etat, staged by the military to oust caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday night, turned out to be the mildest and most peaceful operation in the history of Thai political revolutions. No gunshots were fired. There were no clashes or bloodbaths. And many people, instead of being scared away by the tanks and troops that roamed the city, felt safe enough to approach and even give the soldiers bunches of roses.
The Council for Democratic Reform, for the first time in history, opted for a female anchor to make announcements, alternately with a male colleague.
''The soldiers had yellow ribbons [yellow is the symbolic colour of His Majesty the King] tied on their weapons or clothes and many were smiling.
survey by the Bangkok Post found most people interviewed in Bangkok and selected provinces across the country supported the coup.
A survey conducted by Suan Dusit Poll yesterday among 2,019 people from various occupations nationwide found that 83.9% were for the takeover by the Council for Democratic Reform.
Surprisingly, more people in the provinces supported the coup _ 86.3 % of the respondents, compared to their counterparts in Bangkok at 81.6 %.
Meanwhile, 75% believed the coup would improve the political situation, 20.2 thought the situation would remain the same, while 4.7% said the coup would make matters worse.
