Thailand's army commander has requested a meeting with the king to ease the influential monarch's concern over a political crisis that has left the government in limbo, a state-run radio station reported yesterday.
Earlier this week, General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin sought to allay fears of a coup by reaffirming the army would not interfere in the crisis and warning military supporters of outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to stay clear of politics.
"The situation in the country is a cause of great suffering for His Majesty," Sondhi said. "If there is anything I and the army can do for the country, I am ready to do it because I am a soldier under the king."
After months of silence, King Bhumibol Adulyadej stepped into the political arena last month, saying the country was in a "mess" as a result of undemocratic elections and urged the country's top courts to resolve the impasse.
"I would like to stress that the army will not stage a coup because a coup would destroy the democratic system. What the army can do now is educate the public by making the majority of the people understand real democracy," said Sondhi, who is known to enjoy close ties with the king.
The military, mostly led by the army, has staged 17 coups since 1932 during the country's difficult transition from absolute monarchy to a parliamentary system. The last coup was in 1991 when the military toppled the government of prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
This time, the military held back as anti-Thaksin demonstrators took to the streets, accusing the prime minister of corruption, cronyism and abuse of power.
The key anti-government group, the People's Alliance for Democracy, plans another demonstration on Monday to urge the Election Commission to resign for mishandling last month's general election.
The poll effectively returned Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party to power but led to a political stalemate that blocked a new government from being formed.
Opposition parties boycotted the April 2 snap polls, prompting a landslide electoral victory for Thai Rak Thai. But in some constituencies where Thai Rak Thai candidates ran unopposed, parliamentary seats remained empty making it impossible for parliament to convene and form a new government.
Bhumibol publicly chastised the top courts for failing to find a solution to the deadlock, prompting the Constitutional Court to rule the polls unconstitutional and annul them.
The Supreme, Administrative and Constitutional courts have since urged members of the Election Commission to step down for mishandling the election, as have other critics who claim the commissioners are government pawns.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including