Thailand Coup d'Etat

Original article: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27517591

 

Thailand announced a military coup today (in Thailand time), May 23. The country has been undergoing political turmoil since November, with protests taking place since November. Many opposition camps were formed, asking the prime minister to step down and calling for reform. Last month, the country’s prime minister did step down, but the protests continued. On Tuesday, the army declared martial law amid talks with the government. On Thursday morning, the army announced that a military coup will be taking place. Since then, they have taken the prime minister and several government officials, and declared themselves the head of state. army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha “vowed to restore order and enact political reforms” and hopes to bring tranquility back to the country. The army has also set a national curfew, under which no citizens are allowed on the street between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Perhaps the most striking of the army’s moves has been their suspension of the Thai constitution, which they wish to re-write.

This military coup has been condemned by many countries, including the United States and European powers like Germany and France. They have declared that it was unnecessary and radical, but the army claims otherwise. It is possible that order could have been restored by other means, but months of peaceful protests have led to nearly no progress. When the prime minister stepped down last month and called for an election, it got broken up by a violent clash of anti-government and pro-government protesters. To a large extent, this shows why the army was so willing to take power in order to restore order. Surprisingly, however, the coup underwent very little opposition and little bloodshed has been reported. At this point, it seems that the army is the only group that has the power to restore order. At the same time, however, martial law allows the army to do as they wish. This leaves them the power to potentially cause a lot of harm, as citizens’ rights can be ignored. Either way, the military coup will face a great challenge in the way it will hinder Thailand’s most profitable industry: tourism. It remains unknown how the government will function under the army’s power, as it could go both ways - either towards peace and order or toward violence and mayhem.