Thailand's army chief imposed martial law Tuesday after months of deadly anti-government protests caused political paralysis, but insisted the intervention did not amount to yet another military coup. Gun-toting troops fanned out after martial law was declared in a dawn broadcast, as General Prayut Chan-O-Cha exploited century-old legislation that confers far-reaching powers on the armed forces to act in an emergency.
But he left the caretaker civilian government in office and later invited the country's warring political factions to sit down for talks, as the United States, the EU, Japan and Southeast Asian neighbours urged Thailand to stay on a democratic track and resolve its differences peacefully. Soldiers and military vehicles were seen in the heart of the capital's retail and hotel district. Troops were also positioned at TV stations where broadcasts were suspended under sweeping censorship orders, although regular Thais appeared largely unfazed. The dismissal of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier this month in a controversial court ruling has stoked tensions in the kingdom, which has endured years of political turmoil.
"Red Shirt" supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed as premier in a 2006 coup, have warned of the threat of civil war if power is handed to an unelected leader, as opposition protesters demand. Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, said on Twitter that the imposition of martial law was expected but must not "destroy" democracy. The backdrop is a nearly decade-long struggle pitting a royalist establishment - backed by parts of the military, judiciary and Bangkok-based elite - against Thaksin's billionaire family, which has traditionally enjoyed strong support among poor and rural voters in the north.
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