Thailand's new military junta summoned ousted government leaders on Friday after it seized power, as opponents of the coup engaged in a tense confrontation with soldiers enforcing martial law on the streets of Bangkok. The kingdom's tough-talking army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha deposed the civilian government on Thursday, the latest twist in years of escalating political turmoil in a move that drew a chorus of international criticism.
Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was removed from office in a controversial court ruling earlier this month, was among more than three dozen prominent figures from both sides of Thailand's political divide summoned by the junta. She reported to a Bangkok army facility and had not been seen in public hours later. Yingluck's aide Wim Rungwattanajinda said the former premier was thought to have been taken to a military camp outside the capital, but the junta stayed silent on her whereabouts as well as those of others called in including her successor Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.
A military source said army barracks had been prepared for people detained during the coup. Under the new regime civil liberties have been drastically curbed, most of the constitution suspended, and a night-time curfew imposed as the army cleared warring protesters from Bangkok's streets.