'Coup' sparks Thailand emergency. BBC Site.

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Tanks took up positions outside Government House
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok amid reports of a coup attempt.
Soldiers have entered Government House and tanks have moved into position around the building.

Mr Thaksin, who is at the UN in New York, said he had removed the chief of the army.

National television announced that forces had taken control of Bangkok "to maintain law and order", and that they were declaring loyalty to the king.

However, the BBC's Kate McGeown in Bangkok says King Bhumibol is held in high esteem by all Thais, and the declaration of loyalty does not necessarily imply that he backs the takeover attempt.



An army-owned TV station is showing images of the royal family and songs linked in the past with military coups.

The announcement said the troops belonged to the "Council of Political Reform".

BBC World, CNN and other international news channels have been taken off the air, readers in Thailand told the BBC News website by email.

Our correspondent says low-level rumours of a possible coup have been circulating for weeks.

Thai media say that two army factions appear to be heading for a clash, with one side backing the prime minister and the other side backing military commander Lieutenant General Sonthi Boonyaratglin.

The general was sacked by the prime minister earlier in the day.

Political impasse

Our correspondent Jonathan Head said it was not clear which faction had taken the initiative and moved into Government House.

He said there has been pressure growing on the prime minister to resign, including groups close to King Bhumibol, following a political impasse in which April's general election was declared invalid.

Troops and guys dressed in Swat-style gear are strolling around

Russell Miles, Bangkok


Eyewitnesses describe turmoil

But it was thought that Thailand was making progress towards holding another election later in the year, our correspondent says.

Witnesses said several hundred troops were posted at key points around Bangkok, including at government installations and major intersections.

Russell Miles emailed the BBC News website to say there were troops "dressed in Swat-style gear strolling around" near Government House, and "a tense, but fairly controlled atmosphere".

He said: "We saw a group of blokes bundling a cameraman and another chap into a van. We are taking photos, but not out in the open."

At the United Nations, where the annual General Assembly is under way, it was announced that the agenda had been changed to allow Mr Thaksin to address it in the coming hours.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5361008.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5361008.stm)

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Thai police say they have arrested five army officers over an alleged plot to kill Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Two weeks ago police intercepted a car, driven by one of the officers and carrying a large bomb, near his home.

But opponents have accused Mr Thaksin of fabricating the plot to boost his chances in October's general election.

Opinion is divided between rural voters who praise his policies on the poor, and urban opponents who accuse him of corruption and abuse of power.

The officers accused of this assassination attempt include a major general and a colonel. All come from Thailand's secretive counter-insurgency command, known as ISOC.

If proven, the plot would be an alarming development for a country which put the era of coups and military intervention behind it more than a decade ago.

However there is deep scepticism among the urban middle class in Bangkok. Opinion polls suggest around half the city's population view it as a hoax by the prime minister to boost his popularity.

Security experts are divided. Some believe it was a genuine plot by a disaffected faction in the military, but that the bomb was meant just to scare Mr Thaksin - it was not primed to explode.

Political crisis

These are very tense and uncertain times in Thailand.


Mr Thaksin faces an election battle in October

Despite the annulment, after intervention by the king, of an election called by Mr Thaksin in April, his Thai Rak Thai party is still likely to win a re-run of the ballot thanks to its strong support base in the countryside.

No politician in Thai history has ever matched Mr Thaksin's vote-winning skills.

But his opponents say his abuses of power during his five years in office should disqualify him from office.

Thailand's recently-created democratic institutions have proved unable to adjudicate in this dispute, and it has now drawn in senior members of the military and elite figures close to the king.

The political crisis has until now played out peacefully, but many Thais fear it may be entering a more dangerous phase.


news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5324172.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5324172.stm)

Oh, for gods sakes. WE ARE ALL READING BBC ALREADY YOU BIG THICK WANKER. If you have a comment, make it. Otherwise, cut and paste is a waste of time, effort, and bandwidth.