Read The Guardian take on the coup here
The Zmag take on it is here

Thai Coup & The rise and fall of Thaksin Shinawatra

On the 20th September 2006 a military coup d'etat removed the democratically elected government of Thailand from power.

Although a coup is far from ideal, the domestic political situation left few feasible alternatives. Although everyone believes in democracy, we must understand that it is not a flawless concept and loopholes can and will be taken advantage of.

The elected prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra was also, conveniently, the richest man in the country! To be fair to him though he held that lofty title before he became prime minister so we can't hold that against him. Thaksin's wealth was in fact the primary reason he won such widespread support initially. He claimed that because he had already amassed all the wealth a man could ever need that he was incorruptible to money politics.

Thaksin was born in Chang Mai, northern Thailand, to an already wealthy family of Chinese origin. Thaksin's grandfather, a second generation immigrant, made the family fortune through tax farming and later finance, construction and property development. Thaksin's father was MP for Chang Mai and ran many local business'. By the time Thaksin was born the Shinawatra family were the most powerful family in Chang Mai, Thailand's second capital.

Thaksin joined the notoriously corrupt Thai police force after school and studied at the 10th class of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, the powerful connections he made here would come in very useful later in life. Thaksin used the connections he made in the police force to further his fledgling business interests and opened up the communications firm AIS soon after retiring from the police force due to stress. After a number of failed starts, AIS were granted permission to be the first mobile phone operator in Thailand. From then on the only way was up. Over the following 10 years Thaksin grew as a communications magnate and his next major venture was to build and launch satellites necessary to his business empire. I.T.V, the first independent (non government or military owned) tv station was launched in Thailand in the mid nineties. They ran into a number of financial difficulties and were acquired by AIS in 2000.

Thaksin entered politics and became deputy prime minister only 3 years later. In 1997 he was embroiled in controversy after profiting from the float and subsequent crash of the Thai bhat and the Asian economic crisis. These allegations were never investigated.

The TRT (Thais love thais) party was formed soon after with Thaksin at the head as leader and party funder. TRT promoted populist policies, namely the 30Bhat health care scheme and loans to small provinces. These policies were very popular and it soon became apparent that Thaksin would win the upcoming election. Thai law states that the Prime Minister may not own shares in any company, sensibly, to avoid conflict of interest. Thaksin declared that he had handed full ownership of AIS to his family and won the subsequent 2001 election with an unheralded governing mandate.

Soon after the election, Thaksin ran into trouble. His maid was found to own a massive amount of stock in AIS, also now know as Shin corp. An asset concealment case went before the highest court in the land. If found guilty, Thaksin was to face a 5 year ban from politics, putting an end to his short term as Prime Minister. Thaksin pleaded for another chance and cited the popular mandate he had just received as the reason to acquit him. He was found not guilty by 7 votes to 6 in a highly controversial case. Thaksin was free to continue his premiership.

The following 4 years were spent solidifying his power and using the country to further the wealth of AIS, now, officially anyway, owned by his family. During this time a number of highly controversial incidents occurred.

• Independent bodies emasculated.

• Press censorship.

• Massacre.

• The South.

• Aid to Burma.

• 30 bhat health scheme

• Loans to villagers

• Thai AirAsia

• ITV

• Airport scandal

• Liverpool FC>

I'm sure there are plenty more and I'll update them as I remember.

Thaksin, used his control of the airwaves to hammer home his 2004 election campaign and blasted the country with propaganda. The main Democrat opposition party could not compete on the same financial footing and Thaksin won by a landslide. His majority was such now that he could be censured in parliament due to all of the opposition parties combined not having enough votes to pass a single motion.

Over the next year Thaksin stepped up his control of the media. Editors were removed from newspapers, hosts removed from TV programs and radio stations had licenses revoked, all for negative reporting.

This would prove to be the start of his downfall. A former Thakin supporter and owner of the manager newspaper, Sondhi Limthongkul, was openly critical of Thaksin on his cable TV show. The channel was to temporarily stop broadcasting soon after due to a contract dispute between Sondhi and Thaksin affiliate UBC (cable operator). Thaksin also attempted to sue Sondhi for defamating the name of The King, a case later dropped at the request of The King.

Sondhi did not leave it at that. He amassed a grand collection of Thakin's misdoings and in the face of emasculation of the independent bodies took the evidence to the people. He hosted a weekly Friday night event in Lumpini park which he broadcast live on the web. The events started to attract a large following and estimates are that up to 100,000 people attended. The Thaksin administration arranged for a large number of rural supporters to come to Bangkok at the same time as Sondhi's events, inevitably this lead to trouble. Thaksin used this trouble as an excuse to label Sondhi as divisive to national unity.

This was all simmering away when Thaksin shot himself in the foot royally. 'His family' sold AIS/Shin corp to the Tamsak, the holding firm of the Singapore government for over 2 billion American dollars and paid not 1 bhat in tax! Thaksin denied any wrongdoing on his behalf and reiterated that his family now ran the business and not him. Luckily for 'his family' Thaksin had recently passed a law changing the rules on foreign ownership of Thai companies, as well as visiting Singapore 'on government business' a few days before completion of the sale.

For the first time there was visible, popular, anti-Thaksin sentiment on the streets of Bangkok. His previous misdemeanours had managed to receive minimal, if any, coverage in the Thai press but something as gargantuan this could not be concealed. Street vendors earning a pittance questioned why they should have to pay taxes while the PM didn't, did they not all use the same pavements?

Sondhi used this popular anger to organize support for street protests calling for Thaksin to resign. He took yellow, the colour of The King, as the uniform for the movement. The protests attracted more and more supporters and the PAD (Peoples Alliance for Democracy) were formed out of them. The PAD were a collection of leading academics, religious leaders and politicians opposed to the repressive Thaksin regime and determined to force him to resign through peaceful Resistance and public disobedience.

During the time of the AIS/Shin sale and the protests, parliament was in recess which meant Thaksin avoided any questioning on the issues. A number of senators presented a petition to the court to try and make them investigate the AIS/Shin sale but the court refused.

Even though Thaksin had a massive majority in parliament and was essentially untouchable, he dissolved parliament and called a snap election which was to take place 30 days later. The presumed reason for calling the election, less than a year after the previous one, was to avoid any rogue questioning from maverick mps and whitewash the furor taking place over the AIS/Shin sale.

The Election Commission (Thaskin appointed) authorised the election even though under Thai law such a snap election cannot be legally be called except in the time of national crisis. Two major issues arose.

• No defections

• Preparation Time

Due to these issues, as well as the probable illegality of the election, the main opposition parties boycotted the election, while the PAD continued to call for Thaksin's resignation and for The King to take control of the country.

The election came and went and as expected TRT won by a landslide claiming 100% of confirmed seats. In protest at Thaksin's handling of the country one of his nominated mps quit after parliamentary lists had been submitted. Also, the opposition parties and PAD had been campaigning in support of the 'NO' vote option on the ballot box. The 'no' vote won against TRT candidates in a number of southern provinces meaning that parliament could not reconvene as all seats must be filled.

On top of all of this the Election Commission also authorised a number of dubious acts.

• Voting Booths

• 20% Rule

• Buying off of small parties

With his majority seemingly guaranteed and the courts on his side, Thaksin advised that the people had spoken and that he was now fully vindicated. He announced a break from politics to appease the PAD and diffuse their main call for him to resign. Thaksin was to remain main party funder and most people believed he would still be pulling the strings as his deputy was now in charge.

Events rumbled on for another couple of weeks and the Southern parliamentary seats remained steadfastly unfilled. At this point The King made his first announcement on the political situation. He advised that he had no intention of taking charge of the country he had brought democracy to 50 years prior and that it was the responsibility of the courts to end the deadlock. Almost instantly afterwards they did.

The court annulled the election, while avoiding the issue of it's legality. They instead cited the illegality of moving the polling booths. The parliament which was voted in in 2005 returned as a caretaker parliament with Thaksin back, as caretaker PM. The EC faced massive public and academic pressure to resign but held firm and insisted that they would stay to reorganize the next election. Only after the court charged them with malfeasance and sentenced them to 5 years in jail did they relinquish their positions. They were released shortly afterwards on bail.

The anti-Thaksin movement grew louder and more vocal upon his return as yet more prominent academics, businessmen, politicians and the general public joined with the PAD to call from him to quit and allow Thailand to return to normality. Thaksin remained steadfast and despite his previous disdain for the people was now claiming to the the champion of peoples democracy as he insisted that only the people could remove him.

Things stayed calm for the next few months as nothing was to be allowed to spoil the 60th Anniversary of The Kings ascension to the throne. As head of state, Thaksin was responsible for organizing the event and liaising with foreign dignitaries. Soon afterwards the King became sick and all political demonstration was put on hold.

In the meantime the Senate (supposedly free of party politics, but heavily TRT influenced) had to choose the new EC to organize the next election, penciled in for mid October. Out of a shortlist of 10 presented to them by the Administrative court (now seemingly working for King and country rather than Thaksin) the Senate chose the 5 most pro Thaksin candidates.

Rumours were rife of a coup in Bangkok. It was widely believed that the coup would be a Thaksin organized one, as his close allies controlled the essential military bases in Bangkok. Due to these rumours representatives of the King started to give lectures to the navy, army and air force advising them that their loyalty is to King and country and not to any powerful political figures. A coup against Thaksin seemed impossible due to his strong military power base, he was also due shortly to use his annual military reshuffle to remove any possibility of a threat.

General Sonthi, head of the armed forces, insisted that there would be no coup as he was apolitical. Sonthi had been a controversial appointment all along and was not seen to have any political ties or loyalty. The King had recommended Sonthi due to his impeccable track record and to help out in the Muslim majority South, Sonthi is himself Muslim.

Thaksin left the country on government business in late August in an attempt to diffuse the growing movement against him. He could not afford to quit and risk investigation into allegations of corruption and nepotism, or risk having his assets seized. Thaskin planned to return shortly before the new election was due to be held and return to power with the title of Prime Minister, rather than the caretaker he presently was.

I was in Phuket when I got the news. A Thai friend of mine called me to tell me that 'there is a tank in Bangkok'. No big deal I thought, one tank. My friend sounded panicked and after I realised the old Thai error of not using the plural I knew that something serious was happening. I rushed to the Internet to check the news only to see that a coup was in fact taking place and unknown forces had stormed the parliament! I was a mixed bag of emotions that night. As news filtered through it became apparent that General Sonthi had staged a coup! I was worried about a military split given that pro Thaksin supporters controlled the Bangkok military. I envisaged carnage in the streets. Most of all I hoped that it could all be dealt with peacefully and that Thaksin would be removed, hopefully arrested and charged for his crimes.

As it transpired the whole coup was handled perfectly, one could say with military precision!

During the night of the coup there was a meeting between Sonthi and pro-Thaksin groups aimed at finding a solution to the political impasse in Thaksin's absence. At the same time this as was happening General Sonthi's forces moved into Bangkok on the proviso of heading South. They subsequently surrounded the pro-thaksin battalions of Bangkok neutralizing their threat.

When Thaksin, in NYC for the UN Summit, realised what was happening he declared a state of emergency and with typical audacity fired General Sonthi. Thaksin attempted to get a message to the people out on the government controlled TV networks, but it was too late. The military had already taken control of the TV signals. For the rest of that night the nation watched images of The King and Royal songs, as tanks took charge of major institutions peacefully and without bloodshed. The King seemingly was in support of the coup which was an essential factor in avoiding bloodshed.

Thaksin was due to make a speech to the UN on the night of the coup, but instead fled to London. General Sonthi was able to execute the coup so successfully as he had promoted a number of commanders in his annual military reshuffle only weeks earlier, these promotions were due to be annulled by Thaksin.

All in all the coup occurred very peacefully as soldiers posed for photographs, children played with tanks and women handed flowers to the soldiers in support. There has been no noticeable difference to life here and General Sonthi has promised that a new Prime Minister will be in place this week.

As I said at the beginning of this piece, a coup is never ideal. This situation was unique though and Thai democracy was not built to sustain someone with the power and wealth of a man like Thaksin. A new civilian government will be set up shortly who will have the unenviable task ahead of them of writing a new constitution and setting up a way for independent bodies to remain unpolluted, apolitical and neutral.

I admire that the Thai people had the balls to take to the streets and fight for change, I admire General Sonthi for risking annihilation by standing up against Thaksin, and most of all I admire The King. The King changed the country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in order for the country to progress. To see his country in such a mess now due to one man's greed must be very hard, and giving his support to the coup can not have been easy.

I believe that although a coup is a step backwards, long-term it will prove to be the right decision. The setting up of appropriate candidates to run the country in the short term and write a new constitution cannot be hurried, we don't want to have to travel down this road again. How do the people of a democratic country deal with a government that works within the law to further the aims of a few at the detriment of the many? That question is as relevant here as it is many other countries today. Remember that democracy brought us Hitler and that citizens have the right to revolt if elected governments are not representing the people.

As far as Thaksin goes, he is now living in England and will no doubt be orchestrating some twisted plan to return to power. Alternatively, I guess he'll finally get to buy an Enlish football team, fingers crossed it's Man United. In a country that admires wealth above all else though I wouldn't bet against his return. Somehow I doubt that we have seen the last of Thaksin Shinawatra. Dave, 28 September 2006

Well, you may not be surprised to hear that everything isn't going exactly as planned. It's a sad state of irony that in the rush to show the world that the military don't want to take control of the country they are jeopardising the entire justification for the coup.

When the military took over they announced to the world that they had done it to bring an end the political impasse and would have a civilian government in place within 2 weeks. They also announced that they would clean up the commissions during this time and start investigations into the wrongdoings of the previous administration. I said in my original article that the worst thing they could do is rush the appointments. They had to get this right and show the world clear evidence of why they had no other choice. By rushing through the appointments of a new PM, election commission and most notably corruption commission they have, unsurprisingly, made mistakes. Most blatantly, they have appointed 2 people with clear loyalty and ties to the former PM to the corruption commission, mandated to investigate his wrongdoings. This is a recipe for disaster and could lead to a whitewash. It seems that the military didn't do the appropriate checks on the commissioners due to the strict and unrealistic time restrictions they had placed upon themselves. If the PM gets away scot free from all of this then the military appear heavy handed in orchestrating the coup and the old PM is given the opportunity to return unscathed. A disaster for Thailand. I really hope that we come through all of this in a better position, I am still hopeful and supportive but I hope it's not just a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Almost 3 months have now passed since the coup and I am left feeling disappointed by what has transpired thus far. The interim government, made up of leading Thai establishment figures, has gone about its business efficiently enough and seems to be tidying up some of the economic mess left behind by Thaksin through his glitzy populist schemes. They have totally failed in their most important task though - Justifying the coup to the masses.

I expected that in the immediate aftermath of the coup that there would be a flurry of information released, explaining to the people just what Thaksin had been up to and that although he claimed to be the best friend of the people, that he was actually their worst enemy. I expected him and his cronies to have their assets frozen, arrests to be made and the whole messy situation to be tidied up. It's disturbingly eerie how little has happened in that respect. Only 2 of Thaksin's many crimes are being investigated - The tax free sale of Shin and the scandal of land buying around the airport. Neither case is likely to come to anything.......

Firstly, and most importantly, the current deputy PM was previously head of the Central Bank and so will be implicated if Thaksin was to be found guilty in either of these cases! Secondly, the sale of Shin Corp is being investigated under Thailand's foreign ownership laws. Legally, no foreign person/company can own more than 49% stake in any Thai company. The Singaporian company/government which bought Shin got around this by using holding companies within Thailand. Unfortunately, this is also how most foreign businesses operate here so if Thaksin goes down over this then so does virtually every other foreign owned company in Thailand. I'm sure I don't need to explain the power of major foreign western) owned companies anywhere in the world.

There is growing unrest in the countryside and it doesn't surprise me one iota. The people of Isaan, who were so easily manipulated by Thaksin, have received very little information about what went on and so as far as they can see, 'their guy' was removed by force without justification. I can see a few reasons for this abject lack of information. Perhaps the people running the show are so arrogant that they feel that they don't need to justify anything they do, maybe they don't wish to get themselves involved in the PR game that Thaksin revelled in or perhaps it's something altogether more sinister. Because of this lack of understanding by the general populace I can see this all ending in tears. All the major players from the previous regime are at large, no arrests have been made and no assets frozen. Thaksin hasn't returned but he will when the time is right. The unrest in the countryside is only going to grow and grow and I predict in about a year that we are going to have to go through some nasty times, with Thaksin returning to liberate the masses and then we are back to square one.

I had big hopes for all of this but ultimately the baton has just been passed to other guys within the upper echelons of Thai 'hi-so' life. I guess a revolution in these circumstances is destined to fail, lets just hope it doesn't turn nasty.