Small protests against military intervention in Thailand

Unlike what would happen in almost any other country, in Thailand the street life continues as normal after the army chief, General Prayuth Chan- ocha and his men give Thursday a coup.

Anyone take a walk along Friday afternoon through downtown Bangkok that Thai would not know the news of the coup have taken power. It was not hard to find some Thai napping on a tuk – tuk or cooking their food carts, while tourists in and out of the massage rooms. The bars remained open and the beer did not stop running on the terraces of most tourist areas. The Thai military have perpetrated 19 coups since 1932, a dozen of them (including this one) successfully, and the public has not caught him off guard: Thais feared that were to occur after the recent dismissal of the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, now remains held by the police.

Very small groups of protesters have taken to streets of Bangkok to protest peacefully against the coup despite the ban imposed by the junta to hold political meetings of five or more people. “I want the military to go home. If they have to do something to go south to fight, there is a conflict [ against Muslim separatists ]. Government will support the [ deposed ] if there are elections, but can not believe in the military, “said Somchai, a businessman from Bangkok that has come to manifest this Friday. Five people have been arrested for defying the ban. In Thailand there are currently no Constitution or rule of law, so there are no laws or legal consequences for the military, who have not hesitated in the past to take guns.

Army chief imposed the curfew 22:00 to 5:00. From the nine cut the BTS elevated train line that runs through a large part of the capital in a circle from east to west. The center fell apart, as happens day ends, and Thai returned home by taxi, bus or motorcycle taxi, widely used to overcome the huge jams. However, the military did not take any action against those who failed to get home before the entry into force of the curfew.

Past ten in the evening and with the curfew already in place, some remained open food carts at intersections and taxis continued to circulate in some areas like that, but car traffic was greatly reduced. Many foreigners and some Thai, seemingly oblivious to the situation in the country, sat in the terraces of high standing, while bars took advantage of the lack of competition to get a good commission on the price. At night you could eat, drink and play football, and there was no intervention by the military. “I arrived a few days ago and nothing has changed, suddenly was watching TV and came someone talking in Thai, we were told that the bars would be closed but we are drinking, everything goes well,” says Scott, a carpenter from New Zealand.

At five o’clock on Friday has risen curfew. However, television still operated since the coup was announced, and the only issue is propaganda Army, where police television series related to the monarchy or listen to patriotic songs news shows. The deputy spokesman of the military government issues press every so often on television to ask the Thai quiet, announce the upcoming curfew, or give any other instructions.

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Posted by Khalil Khan on May 25 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.