Thai army trying to allay coup fears
BANGKOK: The Thai army is trying to allay fears of a possible military coup,
even as it moves its hardware into Bangkok. The display of military might comes
as the government considers putting extra security measures in place, to counter
a planned shutdown of the city next Monday.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is mulling using the emergency decree in
addition to the Internal Security Act to lock down any kind of situation that
may develop in Bangkok over the week.
The emergency decree gives the military the power to police Bangkok. They also
would have the option of using martial law and instituting a curfew.
This is causing some concern as the Royal Thai Army said they will move 20,000
troops into Bangkok, as well as tanks and other heavy armaments ahead of the
Royal Thai Armed Forces Day on 18 January.
Whenever tanks are seen heading into Bangkok, there are always fear of a
military coup.
The spokespeople from the Royal Thai army has said that this is not the case.
They even said that the tanks will be used on Children's Day, which falls on
Saturday. This is a traditional day where Thai children are allowed to climb on
tanks and experience helicopters and other military vehicles.
But troops have never arrived from a different area.
Also where they are headed down from is Lopburi province - the same regiment
that fomented the 2006 coup.
There have been concerns about the continuing protests. The police said they
are deploying an additional 4,000 security officials around Bangkok, targeting
mostly government buildings, VIP homes, as well as traffic intersections, and
Suvarnabhumi Airport.