BANGKOK — Thailand’s
military junta on Saturday ordered two dozen professors and writers to
turn themselves over to the military authorities, broadening a sweep in
which nearly 200 political officials have already been detained, and
sent more troops into the streets of Bangkok and other cities to
discourage protests.
The
Pentagon, responding to Thursday’s military coup, announced Saturday
that it was halting a military exercise with Thai armed forces that was
already underway and canceling the visit here of a top American admiral.
The Obama administration, which suspended military aid to Thailand last
week, called off other projects for police and military cooperation.
The military said Saturday that the detained politicians, including former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other leaders of the former governing party, were being held to give them “time to think.” A spokesman for the junta declined to say when they would be freed.
The
two dozen scholars and writers who were summoned Saturday also appeared
to be supporters of the former government; most were advocates of
elections, which a protest movement led by the Bangkok establishment had
blocked.
The
commander of Thailand’s army overthrew the country’s elected government
on Thursday, a move applauded by members of the Bangkok establishment
but one that risks a violent backlash from voters in northern Thailand
who supported the overthrown government.
The
junta said Saturday that it had discovered a cache of weapons in the
northeastern city of Khon Kaen and had arrested members of a group it
said was planning acts of sabotage.
The
military also faced a spike of violence in Thailand’s troubled deep
south, where an insurgency has raged for a decade. At least two people
were reported killed in more than a dozen explosions at convenience
stores and gas stations in the city of Pattani on Saturday night,
according to Thai news media reports.
In
Bangkok, several hundred protesters who confronted troops in Bangkok on
Saturday held up a large banner that read, “We want an election.”
The
army chief, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, outlined the junta’s plans in a
meeting with foreign diplomats on Friday, saying that elections would be
held only when there was a “conducive” environment, according to an
account by a meeting participant.
According
to the same participant, General Prayuth said he would appoint reform
councils that would draft a new constitution and study unspecified
“social” changes. The military on Thursday voided the Constitution,
which it had helped write after a previous coup in 2006.
In
Washington, officials said about 700 sailors and Marines were
participating in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise
when it was cut short. The annual exercise, which started on Tuesday,
was scheduled to run through May 28 as the first of nine bilateral
exercises the Navy conducts with maritime forces in Southeast Asia.
The
Pentagon also announced that it was canceling a visit to Thailand by
Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., the commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. In
addition, the Defense Department rescinded an invitation for a senior
Thai commander to visit the military’s Pacific Command in Hawaii next
month.
“As
we have made clear, it is important that the Royal Thai armed forces
end this coup and restore to the people of Thailand both the principles
and the process of democratic rule, including a clear path forward to
elections,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a
statement.
In
addition, the State Department announced Saturday that it was canceling
a firearms training program for the Royal Thai police that was to start
here on Monday, as well as a trip next month by senior Royal Thai
police officials to the United States to visit F.B.I. facilities and
meet with American law enforcement officials.
The
steps taken Saturday are the Obama administration’s latest rebukes to
the Thai coup leaders. On Friday, the State Department said it had
suspended $3.5 million in financing for military sales and military
training, and was reviewing the rest of the $10.5 million in assistance
it was providing Thailand.
“We
again call on the military to release those detained for political
reasons, end restrictions on the media, and move to restore civilian
rule and democracy through elections,” Marie Harf, a State Department
spokeswoman, said in a statement.
The department also issued a warning to American citizens to “reconsider any nonessential travel to Thailand.”
The
coup has been cheered in social media messages by some Thais who see it
as a way to purge the influence of the governing party and its de facto
leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in exile and was himself ousted
in the 2006 coup when he was prime minister.
Members
of the Bangkok establishment who helped lead protests that led to
Thursday’s coup are in favor of a suspension of democracy.
Thailand’s king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is 86 years old and ailing, has been silent on the country’s crisis.
He
has not been seen in public since the coup. A television announcement
by the junta on Saturday featured a letter from the king’s principal
private secretary, Krit Kanchanakunchorn, saying only that the king had
been “informed.” The British news media have reported that Crown Prince
Maha Vajiralongkorn is in Britain.
As
Thais adjusted to life under military rule, questions grew about the
army’s ability to handle the complexities of governing a modern economy,
especially if there were a protracted period without a Parliament and
an elected government. After the 2006 coup a military-appointed
government was largely seen as a failure.
“It
boggles the mind that they think they can run so many government
departments,” said Nattakorn Devakula, a television host whose station
was ordered off the air by the military. “They don’t have the
expertise.”
The junta, which blocked all television stations after the coup, allowed most channels back on the air on Friday.
For
a country with a traditionally freewheeling news media, sweeping
guidelines banning unfavorable coverage of the coup were surprising.
A
prominent Thai reporter for the newspaper The Nation, Pravit
Rojanaphruk, was summoned to an army base by the junta on Saturday, and
the Thai news media reported that editors from the country’s largest
newspapers were also asked to attend a meeting with the military rulers.
The Canadian ambassador to Thailand, Philip Calvert, posted a message on Twitter saying that “friends in Beijing have more access to television news — including on the coup — than I do.”
Mr. Nattakorn, the television presenter, predicted a backlash.
“I don’t think the media will be as subservient as they think,” he said.
The junta has also struggled to respond to criticism on the Internet.
In talks with diplomats on Friday, General Prayuth said the army could block social media but had shown leniency.
On Saturday, the junta said on Twitter that it had ordered the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to “search websites with agitating content aimed at causing confusion.”
The army was ready to “take action immediately,” message said.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment