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THAILAND’S MILITARY JUNTA says it has disbanded the Senate and placed all law-making authority in the army chief’s hands, dramatically tightening its grip after a coup that has sparked Bangkok protests and drawn international condemnation.
The regime also confirmed it had detained former premier Yingluck Shinawatra and scores of other ousted government leaders and would hold them for up to a week as it corralled potential opponents to its takeover.
An army bulletin on national television said “The Senate is dismissed. Responsibility for any laws needing the approval of the parliament or Senate will instead be assumed by the leader of the (junta).”
Thailand’s fragile democracy has been repeatedly stunted by 19 actual or attempted coups since 1932.
Analysts called today’s developments an ominous sign that the junta led by the army chief, General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, could be digging in for a long-term, pervasive takeover, as it had earlier said the Senate would be retained.
Sporadic protests flared in Bangkok for a second straight day, with hundreds of demonstrators defying a ban on political gatherings to denounce the coup, echoing calls from Washington, the EU and elsewhere around the world for the restoration of civilian rule.
Prayut seized control Thursday after anti-government forces had waged a several-month campaign, marked by deadly Bangkok street protests, to oust Thailand’s civilian leaders.
Civil liberties have been curbed, media restrictions imposed, most of the constitution abrogated, and rival protesters from both sides of the political divide cleared from the capital.
King ‘acknowledges’ coup
Political analysts view the coup as part of a long-running effort by a Bangkok-based power elite, aligned with the monarchy and military, to eliminate the political dominance of Yingluck’s elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms tycoon, shook up Thai politics by winning devotion among millions of rural poor with populist measures, catapulting him to prime minister in 2001 polls.
He was deposed in 2006 in a military coup, fleeing abroad two years later to avoid a corruption conviction but his family and allies have continued his success at the ballot box.
The military today said that Prayut had sent a letter regarding his takeover to the country’s revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The monarch, 86, commands great respect among his subjects, and his blessing is traditionally sought to legitimise Thailand’s recurring military takeovers.
The army said the king had “acknowledged” Prayut’s letter, but stopped short of describing the response as an endorsement.
The palace has yet to issue a statement on the crisis.
Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai politics researcher at Japan’s Kyoto University, said the general’s assumption of law-making authority indicates a looming “full-scale authoritarianism or military despotism.”
He said:
By taking full control of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, and now the Senate, this shows the military is setting itself up as the sovereign.
Briefing the media for the first time since the coup, the military said Yingluck and other prominent figures had been taken in under a martial law provision allowing detentions of up to seven days without charge.
Yingluck detained
It was not known whether any charges were being prepared, but military officials said the detainees were in no danger.
“(Yingluck) is under detention, and she is fine,” said Lieutenant General Thirachai Nakwanich, head of the military command for central Thailand including Bangkok.
A military official told AFP she was being held at an unspecified army barracks in Bangkok.
A night-time curfew imposed by the junta has tamed the capital’s often rowdy tourist districts, further chilling a vital visitor industry already cooled by the long-term strife.
Washington, which has led criticism of the coup, took its first concrete steps, suspending $3.5 million in military assistance to its ally, about one-third of its Thai aid. Further cuts were being considered.
The constitution was replaced after 2006 with one intended to curb Thaksin’s electoral influence.
“This time, the constitutional changes will be more thorough,” Thai politics analyst Paul Chambers said.
He said measures could include “electoral gerrymandering, even more power granted to the judiciary, and finally, more power granted to the army.”
Anti-Thaksin forces, alleging corruption in Yingluck’s administration, have staged months of deadly Bangkok protests that led to at least 28 deaths and triggered counter-demonstrations by the pro-Thaksin “Red Shirt” movement.
Tensions spiralled in early May when a court ruling controversially stripped Yingluck of office, setting the stage for the coup.
The “Red Shirts” had earlier warned a coup could trigger civil war but are yet to mount a clear response.
However, for the second straight day, demonstrators gathered in at least two locations in central Bangkok to rail against the junta.
“I have the right to vote and I want to make it clear that they cannot just steal it from me with a coup,” said a tour guide who identified himself only as Piti. The protesters in Bangkok said they were not Red Shirts.
No serious confrontations have yet been reported, but AFP reporters witnessed several people being taken into custody in various locations.
I got an appointment but didn’t need it because I got booster in work but there is no way of cancelling the appointment only requesting a new one. This might have something to do with the percentage…
@Mary Ryan: exactly. Same here and for others in my dept. If every healthcare worker who gets their booster in work is being booked in at an alternative location, then that will account for a huge proportion of so-called “no shows”. Perhaps if they had a cancel option on the text, they could give the appointment to someone else. But it’s the HSE, so…
@Mary Ryan: did you actually ring the helpline?
@Anna Carr: most people dont have time to wait 45 mins on hold to tell somebody they can’t make an appointment/postpone it to be fair..so frustration will take hold at some stage where you’ll just sat feck it
@Pol Mlp: I understand. Maybe I was just lucky getting through after 10 minutes.
@Mary Ryan: v sad that HSE is spending millions on digitisation, delivering mega profits to external consultants and the level of service is still this bad. It’s the Childrens Hospital over and over. No accountability for the misuse of taxpayers funds. The buck stops with Minister Donnelly and the Taoiseach.
@Mary Ryan: I was given 2 options, reply Yes to reschedule or phone the Covid Helpline which I presume you would do to cancel. I’d say a lot of people are doing neither and just not turning up. If they get their booster elsewhere then this will be registered centrally eventually and they will be taken off the no show list I should imagine. They had all of the details of my first two vaccines when I was at the centre even though I received a different drug first time and at a different location so good setup.
@Anna Carr: yes Anna, you were lucky.
@Mary Ryan:
HSE systems again, when u got the booster it should have come up on their IT system that u got the boster, another one that is showing No Showing is u can’t get a booster vaccine till 6 months after getting Covid. U can inform them that u can’t get the booster due to their regulations with covid but u will be put down as a no show. They have no way of reccording people who can’t get the booster because of having had covid.
City West today had 24 hatches available for registering people for the booster only 4 hatches manned people waiting over 2 hours to get registered, numerous people leaving the que. No wonder such high rates, comments made by people completely detached for the reality on the ground
@Carl Corcoran: so you had to wait. If they were handing out €1000 at those hatches, I don’t think you would have a problem.
@Anna Carr: but they weren’t handing out €1000
@Anna Carr: Most people have work and childcare to worry about in addition to appeasing the governments “booster” programme. Such a flippant comment Anna.
@LaoisWeather: ur not appeasing anyone it’s ur choice if u feel ur been put out by having to get ur free booster don’t get it stay on work or collect ur kids instead easy solution
@LaoisWeather: saving lives and agonising deaths for those who were careful is not flippancy and that guy answered my comment perfectly. “but they weren’t handing out €1000″. Do people even hear themselves?
@Anna Carr: stoo.pid comment. Adds nothing to the debate. C.o.p on.
@Anna Carr: you should call yourself Wayne
@Neil Neart: it’s the very heart of the debate. You just don’t want to hear it.
@David Bishop: why? I’m not with you
@Carl Corcoran: you DO NOT have to register for the booster. You receive a text message.
@Carl Corcoran:
@Giovanni cans: I want my grand first
@Ann Basquille Smith: When you get to the vaccination centre you have to register at the desk before you can get the jab.
@Anna Carr: Seriously silly comment.
@Aidan Haughey: is it though? Really?
@Anna Carr: How many people do you want to tell it to you? Yes, it was silly.
@Nollaig Ó Ceallaigh: so says you. Who even are you?
@Carl Corcoran: Genuinely, thanks for the heads up, at least we know to allow hours for the process if necessary. Out of curiosity, was it a socially distanced queue, and indoors?
The HSE send you an appointment without verifying if it is convenient or if you want it at all.That was never going to be as successful as you making your own appointment as what happened for your first vaccines.
@Roger Bond: Honestly an inconvenient time is no excuse. You make the time and take the Jab. We are lucky to be in a country getting boosters never mind vaccination in general. Almost 65% of the world is currently unvaccinated so we should stop moaning and get on with it.
@Heather Knowles: Well said Heather Knowles. We simply have to get on with and the sooner the better.
@Heather Knowles: wonderful comment. Well said.
@Heather Knowles: do u have nothing else to do but pollute this comments section with puerile silli.ness ?
@Heather Knowles: In my case as a health care worker doing extra shifts. I much prefer to get my booster on my day off than just walk out and get someone to cover for me.
@Roger Bond: just reply Yes to the notification and they’ll give you a new date.
@Neil Neart: Such a mature comment. Darwinsm is alive and well it seems.
@Heather Knowles: yes but in the real world people have other appointments they can’t miss like weddings, funerals, hospital appointments, etc. you can’t just assume people will be able to make time to get the booster at the drop of a hat.
here we go again: blame blame blame.
it’s not us, it’s you.
@Neil Melly: what wud u have the hse throw a rope around people’s necks and drag them in for there boosters
@Sean Mccabe: I don’t think that’s his point. I’m no medical expert but it looks to me like the HSEs mantra is vaccinate, wanes in a few months, booster, wanes, booster, wanes booster so on so forth. you won’t get healthy individuals taking the booster as easily as the initial vaccine. I know alot of people now have the mindset, “if I get covid, I get it and I hope my body fights it”. People are just sick to the teeth of it all and mentally fatigued listening to the same thing day in day out with 20, nearly 21 months.
@Macca1986: it’s not the hse’s mantra it’s the world’s leading immunologists plans that people need boosters not only Ireland we r not on our own were not being singled out we need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and trust the experts when it comes to boosters.peoples choice to take them or not but can’t be moaning saying this and that if they refuse help that’s being offered on a plate to them.
@Macca1986: yes but what about other vulnerables they infect along the way? Hardly fair is it?
@Anna Carr: you booster the vulnerable.
@Anna Carr: you booster the very vulnerable
@Sean Mccabe: thats my point. everywhere is the same. I’m talking ireland as I live here and from here. my point still stands that alot won’t take the booster who are young, fit and healthy.
@Macca1986: there choice ultimately,history will show if they were rite
I can see why people who already have both doses could be frustrated and not show up for the booster but the current situation is what it is and people need to get on board or else another lockdown is unavoidable and nobody wants that
@Wiggit93: well said. 100% agree.
@Wiggit93: People not taking their booster need to lose their Covid cert per direct.
@Raymond Scott: Why should they. People did what they were asked they went got vaccinated. Now suddenly vaccination isn’t enough you think everyone should be forced into getting the booster. How many boosters should we be forced to get?
@Roy Dowling: As many as are necessary.
@Raymond Scott: So you’ve no idea?
@Roy Dowling: you sound like a petulant child. The government isn’t forcing you to do anything. It’s in people’s and societies interest to continue to follow the latest research. Nobody has a Covid crystal ball.
@Homes: so we’re not allowed ask questions? So say I chose not to get the booster can I still go to the cinema? Bring the wife for a meal in a restaurant? No I cant so yes the vaccine is being forced on people. Now I myself would no be eligible for a booster shot til April, and yes I’m still not decided if I want take vaccine every 6 months for the foreseeable future.
@Roy Dowling: you sound like an anti vaxxer. by the same logic an unvaccinated person is forced the vaccine… They cant bring the wife to a restaurant. Which makes no sense since when vaccinated after couple months one transmits the virus like unvaccinated person, check the Lancet. Viral load the same. So in way, that covid cert is useless from health perspective, all should be tested: vaccinated and non vaccinated. Hmm, in roundabout way, we agree ha ha
@Wiggit93: not to mention avoiding spending Christmas in ICU.
@Raymond Scott: So I’m vaccinated but I’m an anti vaxxer hmmmmm
@Roy Dowling: well, lets say you are not a hard core vaxxer
@Raymond Scott: No he fookin doesn’t. Seriously, stop with this BS. An anti-vaxxer is exactly that: anti-vaccination. Someone who’s had 2 jabs of the vax but isn’t too keen on never-ending booster shots isn’t an anti-vaxxer. FFS why are so many words so ídiotically overused these days…?
@Wiggit93: half of thread under this deleted by Journal… the great cleanse keeps giving…
Did the HSE flag certain people not wearing their masks at rugby internationals yet?
@David Van-Standen: Is your issue just with rugby or the lack of mask wearing. Because there was no mask wearing at the soccer either.
@David Van-Standen: did the HSE flag leo getting off an airplane the other day not wearing a mask and sitting looking at Riverdance not wearing his mask.
@Mark Wallace: Please try to keep up if you are going to join the discussion, my comment was in regard to a certain person in the HSE that’s always telling everyone else to wear their mask, being immortalised in a photo not doing so themselves at the rugby in an enclosed area.
Can’t we get 20 boosters to go, store them up in the freezer and self inject every 6 months for the next decade? That would save time…
Sure I could keep mine in the first-aid box with my iodine tablet. Seriously, I reckon the treatment will improve a lot as we go along & be longer lasting and easier to take. I’d say eventually there will be alternatives such as drops offered and a future dose spaced over a decade. But for now, we need to keep our immunity up. I’m too young right now but if/when I get the text I’ll be doing my utmost to get it.
A health expert on with Claire Byrne this morning was advocating for boosters for everyone every 2 months!
At some point people are going to question what they’re signing up for, particularly those who experienced side effects from the first jabs. There doesn’t seem to be any plan here anymore other than taking infinite boosters when beckoned.
And it all comes tumbling down, those people have obviously made a clear and conscious, end of, leave e them alone
There are walk in appointments in vaccination centres that HCWs can avail of, as the appointments offered to them are often across the city, mid week and midday. Many staff aren’t given leave for boosters as there is no cover. There was no option for me to cancel my scheduled appointment. is Paul aware of this
Got mine this morning
@Sean Ryan: good for you. Genuinely my vulnerable family and I thank you. Fair play.
@Sean Ryan: As did I. I’m waiting now for my sister who is 51 and vulnerable (Down’s syndrome) to get hers before I can relax. Infuriates me that she must wait while others who are offered can’t be rsade to get theirs.
@Paul Whitehead: That seems unfair in the cases of people who were booked into two different centres. They need to double-check for duplicate appointments being assigned and take out the ones who have indeed got a booster at one place.
And it all comes tumbling down, these people have obviously made a clear and conscious decision, end of, leave them alone
People are opting out. But they’ll be capitulate (as Pat Kenny says) when the same level of coercion (covid passes revoked) & vitriol applied to the ‘anti-vaxxers’ starts being thrown at them. A good chunk of those eligible are not even due their boosters until January. And considering there’s been c.215k cases just going back to August, how many of them have contracted the virus in the past 6 months making them ineligible? Is that or natural immunity being factored in by the HSE? No chance.
The game is up
People understandly fatigued with Govt lack of leadership and nphet cock ups followed by u turns (antigen) but got to get those booster shots in to arms everyone. Likely to be an annual injection for some, mix of flu jab with covid booster from now on.
@Declan: Yes we are all fatigued but same in France and Germany we’re I currently am
… Maybe you consider blaming Covid rather than Governments
I rang HSE live and asked how do the high risk who were approved for vaccines 2 days ago get the vaccine. He said unless their GP refers them into the system, they’ve no knowledge who is high risk and needs a booster. How long is that going to take for the hundreds of thousands with underlying conditions to get referred into the system?
@Caitlin Far: your GP should have automatically referred you in as most have for people with underlying conditions or who are immunocompromised . Call your GP if you’ve any concerns and he/she will register you immediately. You should be notified of an appointment within 24-48hrs.
@GrumpyAulFella: thanks. The GP told me the HSE are managing it for people with underlying conditions and they’ve no involvement. They said my underlying condition doesn’t qualify as immunocompromised because only hospital consultants can refer immunocompromised people. They said they’re not referring anyone and the only people getting referred are the immunocompromised ones referred by consultants. I have an underlying condition that’s significant but im not an immunocompromised transplant patient etc. GP sending same standard email to everyone.
That’s just awesome. Taking on board the comment about the inability to cancel, totally understandable but people just not bothering is inexcusable. Wasting vaccines that others would be happy to have.
My 78 year old mother still waiting for her booster.
This shows the effects of the booster rollout on hospitalisation rate:
https://i.imgur.com/4zAkGRR.jpg
Hospitalisation rates are falling (ratio of COVID-19 patients admitted per 1,000 infections).
The only other times hospitalisation rates fell, was when infections fell to low levels, testing capacity exceed the rate of low and falling infections. And when tests could not keep up with rising infections, the hospitalisation rate increased. There may also be an effect from the Alpha and Delta variant which tend to make more people severely sick.
But we’re now seeing the hospitalisation rate fall sharpy despite a large increase in infections, and even despite occasional backlogs in testing.
So the fall in hospitalisation rate since the end of September is best explained by increasing protection provided by the vaccine booster.
@David Jordan: informative as always. Let’s hope so. Seems like protection against serious illness should rise to 95% within two weeks of receiving the booster. Seems to be working well in Israel.
Care staff offered boosters in a pop up Centre in Wexford the other day on the same day as they were all doing compulsory in service training. If they didn’t attend the training they didn’t get paid… Sounds like lack of communication and tomfoolery to me
Are we going to need booster passports to go to pubs, cinemas etc now? People are just sick of this nonsense.
There are walk in appointments in vaccination centres that HCWs can avail of, as the appointments offered to them are often across the city, mid week and midday. Many staff aren’t given leave for boosters as there is no cover. There was no option for me to cancel my scheduled appointment. is Paul aware of this
25% – 50% what sort of percentage is that f f s.
@John Doyle: 25% is a quarter and 50% is a half.so if 200 people had an appointment and only 100 showed up that means 50% didn’t show up.not rocket science pal
@Sean Mccabe: is it not either or tho Sean? They have the figures of how many appointments were given and how many showed up. It’s not rocket science.
@John Doyle: no pal because its a live scenario it’s a broad range 25-50 % because its still ongoing.more accurate in it’s totality when it’s towards the end.
@Sean Mccabe: Give over will ya. If they have given 200,000 appointments and a 150,000 people showed up they can clearly state the 25% 0f people did not show up, If 100,000 show up they can clearly say 50% of people did not show up. You’re correct tho, it is a live ongoing situation. But up until the time he made that statement, it was an exact % of people who were no shows. He should have them figures available to him, with the salary he is on. Stop making excuses for the ridiculous broad range he gave off the top of his head, trying to look like he knows what’s going on and he is on top of things.
@John Doyle: 25% in some centres, 26% in others etcetcetc
@John Doyle: we agree there is wiggle room on those figures he’s probably trying to put a bit of a positive spin knowing the figure is 50% maybe higher who feckin knows
@John Doyle: Oh come on John, read the 1st paragraph again, he said some vaccination centres, so one centre might have a 25% no show and another at the other side of the city could be at 40% no show. It’s not too hard to understand.
@Sean Mccabe: There’s that. I know I stopped following him on Twitter when he started posting the percentage of adults fully vaccinated but passed it off as a percentage of our entire population. A positive spin is grand for a radio DJ. The CEO should be able to get exact figures – there are enough bluffing as it is.
I got an appointment but was unable to attend. I called the number in the text message to reschedule and after 3.5 minutes of press 1, press 2 etc I was told a new a new appointment would follow automatically and to just not show up for my current appointment. No way to actually cancel it. Did not get another appointment and everytime I call I go through the automated section and wait on hold for ages only to hear that the service is currently not available. Very frustrating.
I can see why people who have got both jabs would be frustrated and choose not to show up for their booster jabs but the situation is what it is and if people don’t get on board another lockdown will be unavoidable and nobody wants that
A lot of those no shows are folks who have contracted Covid between the time of receiving their 2nd jab and scheduled for the booster….you can’t receive the booster until your 6 months clear of covid…
I will have one when the side effects from the first one are gone.
@Concepta Farrell: so u have side effects but r willing to get another one ,what side effects did ya get
@Sean Mccabe: Looks like the Selina Kyle effect… here, kitty, kitty!
@Dave:
I had my booster at a mass vaccination Centre and there was 1000s there. Its great to see. However, they are turning away people in droves who don’t have an appointment or those who have not passed the 6 months since full vaccination. I was talking to a steward who said a fake WhatsApp is going around saying to present yourself with or without an appointment or without having passed 6 months and you will be done. Supposedly supply will be spoiled if they don’t get rid of it. People will honestly believe anything….
Also people who have had covid cannot have booster for 6 months
Not true – a lot of healthcare staff who got their initial vaccine doses moved to different hospitals around the country in July, i.e. being called for your booster dose at Wexford Hospital when you have been working in Letterkenny Hospital since July.
Kind of explains why most booster doses have been ‘walk-ins’ as opposed to by appointment
I would happily sit outside a centre hoping to pop in for a no-show spot. With a book and a brollie I would be content to wait!
Blame The HSE For Everything I’m Sure ther is A phone number You can Call
HCW who have or will be receiving their boosters at their place of work should just reply NEW if they receive a text from the HSE to go to a Vaccination clinic, by the time they go to give you a new appointment you will be registered on their system as already having had the booster shot. But there should be an option to cancel.
Am frantically waiting for a call for booster. Can’t get through to surgery. My husband got his with his surgery
Give me 1 I be there as quick as I can
have your say