Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                    Thailand's Army Moves to Ease Coup Fears

   by Reuters

   Thailand's powerful but politicized army sought to ease fears on Monday
   it might step in to resolve a festering political crisis, while
   anti-government protesters entrenched positions around Bangkok as they
   seek to disrupt a February election.

   The latest round of an all-too-familiar political conflict in Thailand
   has dragged on for weeks. It flared last week into deadly clashes
   between police and protesters outside a stadium where registration for
   the Feb. 2 poll was under way and at other rally sites around the Thai
   capital.

   The head of the military added to the growing sense of unease on
   Thursday when he refused to rule out a coup after those clashes. A
   policeman and a protester were killed when an unidentified gunman
   opened fire, and scores were wounded in the clashes.

   The demonstrators are determined to topple Prime Minister Yingluck
   Shinawatra, who they accuse of being a puppet of her self-exiled
   brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.

   Thai army chief General Prayuth Chan-Ocha said after Thursday's clashes
   that "the door was neither open nor closed" on a coup, and social media
   across Thailand has buzzed with rumors of a coup ever since.

   Army spokesman Winthai Suwaree sought to play down those fears, telling
   reporters on Monday that the rumors were causing "confusion and
   speculation".

   "The army would like to insist there's no secret meetings or any
   operations by the military as speculated," Winthai said.

   Until last week, the military had sought to remain aloof from the
   conflict, which represents years of rivalry between Bangkok's middle
   class and royalist establishment and the mostly poor, rural supporters
   of Yingluck and Thaksin in the populous north and northeast.

   The violence flared again in the early hours of Saturday when a
   protester was killed by an unidentified gunman who opened fire on a
   small group of tents set up by protesters outside Yingluck's offices at
   Government House.

   The rest of the capital remained relatively quiet. Tension flared again
   on Sunday when a large firecracker was thrown at another protest site,
   at a bridge over a canal near Government House, wounding five
   demonstrators.

   That prompted the protesters to build sandbag walls across a street
   leading to their rally site at the bridge.

   Isolated

   Most of the protests have been centered in Bangkok, although
   demonstrators have also blocked registration for the polls in seven
   provinces in the south. The protesters, led by fiery former lawmaker
   Suthep Thaugsuban, and the main opposition Democrat Party have many
   supporters in the south.

   The Democrats have declared they would boycott the election which
   Yingluck called, and would likely win, in a bid to end the stalemate.
   The pro-establishment Democrats have not won polls since 1992.

   Suthep and his followers want an appointed "people's council" to take
   over and begin a reform program before another election is held, at
   some point in the future.

   Yingluck is looking increasingly isolated. More chaos on the streets
   could invite intervention by the military, while the judiciary could
   also step in if the deadlock persists.

   Thailand's army has staged or attempted 18 coups in 81 years of
   democracy, including the removal of former telecoms tycoon Thaksin in
   2006.

   The protesters draw strength from Bangkok's conservative middle class,
   royalist bureaucracy and elite, who resent the rise of what they see as
   the venal, billionaire Shinawatra family and their political juggernaut
   which has won every election since 2001.

   They say Thaksin has effectively manipulated a fragile democracy by
   buying the support of the rural poor with populist policies such as
   cheap healthcare, easy credit and subsidies for rice farmers. Many poor
   voters say Thaksin was the first leader to actually keep election
   promises to help them.

   Thaksin fled into exile in 2008 before being sentenced to jail on graft
   charges he said were politically motivated. Yingluck's party
   miscalculated badly in November when it tried to force through an
   amnesty that would have allowed Thaksin to return a free man, sparking
   the latest round of protests.

   Yingluck has said she is willing to consider any compromise that is in
   accord with the constitution. The ouster of her government would likely
   enrage Thaksin's passionate supporters whose aggressive protests
   against a Democrat-led government in 2010 ended in a bloody military
   crackdown.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/thailands-army-moves-to-ease-coup-fea
   rs/1819905.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/thailands-army-moves-to-ease-coup-fears/1819905.html