Thai army declares martial law

[uebermann]

But claims its not a coup.

[quote](Reuters) - Thailand's army declared martial law nationwide on Tuesday to restore order after six months of street protests that have left the country without a proper functioning government, but denied that the surprise move amounted to a military coup.

While troops patrolled the streets of Bangkok, the caretaker government led by supporters of self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra was still in office, military and government officials said. Ministers were not informed of the army's plan before the announcement on television at 3 a.m. (4 p.m. EDT on Monday).

Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the military was taking charge of public security because of violent protests that had claimed lives and caused damage. Nearly 30 people have been killed since the protests began in November last year.

"We are concerned this violence could harm the country's security in general. Then, in order to restore law and order to the country, we have declared martial law," Prayuth said.

"I'm asking all those activist groups to stop all activities and cooperate with us in seeking a way out of this crisis."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/ ... VV20140520

Guess we'll see if its a coup or not shortly.

[Spider]

Well...if the military has declared itself in control without the consent of the civilian leadership...not sure how it could be anything else, even if they didn't bother to kick them out of their comfy chairs. One can be "in office" in the most literal sense only, I suppose.

[Spider]

[uebermann]

Yeah, that didn't take very long, did it? I thought they may go a week minimum. I was way off.

So the story here
Day 1 "Its not a coup"
Day 2 "Its mostly not a coup"
Day 3 "Its a coup."

[Professor]

Thank God that thai food already made it's way to America. I love that stuff. Possibly my favorite ethnic food.

[Stratego]