In Bangkok's drab grey concrete sprawl, the colour yellow has become loaded with political symbolism. Thais associate yellow with their revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who in May 2006 staged lavish festivities to celebrate sixty years on the throne. By then it had also become the adopted colour of the 100,000-strong crowds that took to the streets in April demanding the resignation of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. And on 19 September, yellow scarves and ribbons hung from the barrels of tanks, and from the rifles of the soldiers who were sent to throw him out.
Striking swiftly under cover of darkness, Thai troops pulled off a textbook, bloodless coup d'état against Thaksin - but in the process they dragged one of Asia's liveliest democracies back to an era many Thais believed the country had long since left behind: one where men in uniform usurped constitutional authority at will.
With Thaksin on the other side of the globe preparing to address the opening session of the United Nations general assembly in New York, military bosses moved to end a government that in recent months had become increasingly divisive and destabilising. Tanks and troops ringed key government offices and installations and interrupted normal broadcasting to declare they had taken control. Coup leaders, led by army commander General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin and calling themselves a "council of political reform", announced they had suspended parliament and the constitution and declared martial law. Government offices, banks, the stock exchange and schools were declared closed on 20 September, the day after the coup.
In a hollow gesture of defiance from New York, Thaksin insisted he was still in charge. His taped message, broadcast by a government radio station, declared a state of emergency and announced he had transferred the army commander to an inactive post. On the empty, rain-soaked streets of Bangkok, there was little sign that anyone had heard.
Within hours, the coup leaders had met Thailand's esteemed King Bhumibol to discuss their plans for a new government and soon after made their first television appearance. General Sonthi, with commanders of the other armed services and the police beside him, appealed for public support and promised they would soon return power to the people.
When it came, the king's public response was emphatic: he endorsed the takeover and announced that "in order to create peace in the country" he was appointing General Sonthi to head a new council of administrative reform. For his part, Sonthi declared that Thais would be able to vote in a general election in October 2007.
There is little reason to doubt the general's intention but the military need to act fast to demonstrate its reality. For many Thais, including many hostile to Thaksin, will view the military's intervention as at best a mixed blessing.