Thai army bans political meetings

[LTR]

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's junta has publicly announced a ban on all political meetings and the registration of new political parties, one day after staging a bloodless military coup that ousted the country's prime minister.

The announcement, made on all Thai television stations on Thursday, said the action was taken to maintain peace and order. It did not give a timeframe.

"To ensure the constitutional monarchy is functioning after reforms have been completed, the Political Reform Council has ordered political parties to halt all meetings and political activities," it said in a statement read out on television, Reuters said.

Thailand's coup leader said on Wednesday that civilian rule would be restored "within a year" amid growing international disquiet over the military takeover.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/21/thailand.coup/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

[fasttense]

1. Hmm, stopping political parties? Not a good omen. n/t

[Javaman]

2. Soooprise, soooprise, soooprise...nt

[Mike Daniels]

4. And there were factions here applauding the coup because of the PM's

relationship with Bush.

This new guy has already announced elections are postponed for a year and is banning people from collecting outside in large groups. That's in addition to this new annoucement.

I wonder if those cheering on DU yesterday are still applauding the coup now?

[atreides1]

9. It's up to the people of Thailand now.

Not cheering the coup, but it's not my problem so I'm not really concerned. We have enough problems here in the US, and the policies of this administration and its rubber-stamp Repuke controlled Congress, that should receive our full attention!!!

[Igel]

10. I'm willing to be some are.

And they probably won't post here.

It hurt somebody that they don't like, and what's bad for the enemy has to be good. It's good for the short-term politics that are local to the Americans that support the coup, at least in word and bandwidth; whether it's good for the people that have to live under it is beside the point. A fairly common strain of American political philosophy: All politics is local ... to them, and serves as grist for their political mill.

[geek tragedy]

11. Progressives should NEVER applaud military coups.

They all stink--some just stink more than others.

[Toots]

3. It should be done in the USA as well

Starting with eliminationg Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio. The militry should never be politicized. It is for every American not just Republicans. They should not allow political gatherings or political commentary. They are not civilians and do not have the same rights as civilians have. Politics and the military should never be mixed....

[crispini]

6. LOL, what?

Your post really doesn't make much sense in the context of this thread, which is that the Thai military just overthrew the government... if that's not politicization of the military I don't know WHAT is.

[Bandit]

8. The poster certainly made sense to me

So you think the US military should be politicized??? The way I read his/her post was about the US military and not the Thai which we know for a fact was...

[w4rma]

13. You don't know what you are saying. (nt)

[The Stranger]

5. Thai military is rounding up its gov't reps, but still Iran is the focus.

There is a military coup taking power and removing Democracy from an entire country, yet still the government and its media are pushing for another illegal war, this time against Iran. Not even a statement regarding the military junta taking over Thailand.

Meanwhile, North Korea -- which has nuclear weaspons (as opposed to Iran, who is 6-10 years away form nuclear weapons) -- is firing missles over the Pacific and boasting that it has delivery systems that could reach Los Angeles.

Still, the focus is Iran. The media, the administration, the media, everywhere: Iran.

This is like deja vu all over again.

[Mike Daniels]

7. You must have missed the cheering here on DU

A good number of posters were quick to celebrate the coup strictly because the PM was on good terms with the Bush administration.

Probably was the same group claiming the socialist government now under fire in Hungary was set up through a black-op.

I've noticed that as the situations in both countries turns grimmer that the chatter on both subjects is increasingly smaller.

Post-note: Incidentally, I've seen articles in several papers stating that western governments are now protesting the coup as it becomes more obvious that the plotters are set to shut down the political machine (elections, people gathering in groups, etc...)

[kineneb]

12. Iran=oil. Thailand=no oil.

It is not about "freedom" or "democracy". It was, and is all about resources and empire. Thailand and North Korea do not have any natural resources in which the corporations have any interest. Simple as that, sadly.