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THAILAND’S COUP LEADER has received royal endorsement to lead the politically divided kingdom and quickly threatened to crack down on any further agitation after a weekend of angry protests.
The palace officially appointed army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha as leader of a military junta that has deposed the government and assumed extensive powers in the Southeast Asian nation of 67 million.
“To restore peace and order in the country and for the sake of unity, the king appointed General Prayut Chan-O-Cha as head of the National Council of Peace and Order to run the country,” according to a royal command, referring to the military council set up as the country’s all-powerful ruling force.
The constitutional monarchy headed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, commands great respect among many Thais and the king’s blessing has traditionally been a key step in legitimising the country’s recurring military takeovers.
The latest coup has triggered a small but growing backlash on the streets, with more than 1,000 anti-coup demonstrators marching through Bangkok on Sunday.
Dozens of protesters faced off against lines of armed soldiers. Scuffles broke out and at least two demonstrators were taken away by troops, one bleeding.
Shortly after getting the royal nod, Prayut, 60, held his first press conference as junta head and threatened to “intensify law enforcement” against anti-coup protesters who have pledged to rally in Bangkok again on Monday.
He also warned that demonstrators could be tried in tough military courts.
The junta has detained former premier Yingluck Shinawatra along with about 200 ousted government leaders, political figures, critics and academics in a sweeping roundup since the coup, which has drawn sharp international criticism.
An army commander has indicated Yingluck remained under military control, but declined to reveal her whereabouts.
“We are taking care of her. She is fine. She can choose to stay wherever she wants,” Lieutenant General Thirachai Nakwanich, central region army commander, told AFP when asked of Yingluck’s fate.
Yingluck was ousted by a court ruling earlier this month, but her embattled government had remained in place until last week under a caretaker premier.
In one of the first legal steps taken against a prominent detainee since the coup, the attorney general’s office granted bail to Suthep Thaugsuban, a firebrand leader of nearly seven months of anti-government protests, over an insurrection charge, according to one of his lawyers.
He was still to face court on Monday on a separate outstanding murder charge linked to a bloody military crackdown on opposition protests against a previous government in 2010.
Under the junta, civil liberties have been curbed, media restrictions imposed and most of the constitution abrogated. Prayut also has assumed all authority for making laws.
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Lessons to be learnt >> we’re gonna do the same thing over and over and no one will be punished or even remotely held accountable.
@David Lawlor: It’s next time we will have to try harder to keep things hushed up. We have learnt a valuable lesson.
Lessons to be learned, should be fffg new motto.
Ah the aul “Lessons will be learned” spiel. Are they ever though?
Lessons to be learnt! We have been hearing that since the Blood Contaminarion/AIDS scandal.
Is there any big news today that will bury this?
@James Lyons: They are using this to bury all the other things he has being up to..
@James Lyons:
Joe Biden comes back to ireland ?
LOL
Has there been another crime committed inside the corridors of power? Goodness me, what a bunch of lads they are? The voters must be so proud of their accomplishments.
Well that’s a surprise
Definition of Insanity. Doing scandal over and over again.
Two weeks to flatten the curve!! So many gullible people out there. Still.
They are an absolute joke.
@Fergal McDonagh:
the cervical check victims aren’t laughing
Herr tony coming back into public focus around the time of the release of his book. Hmmm. What chapter does he apologise to the victims of the cervical check scandal?
Some just want and want more power , power and greed .. Jesus how he could keep the drive with his wife’s passing ! Pass it to a younger person now . He will already get a huge pension.
Can’t wait to see Lessons To Be Learned , the Musical .
Remember when he was being lionised here on these pages? Remember someone making a mural of him with a superman outfit? Remember him receiving the freedom of the city?
It was all disgraceful then and it still is.
SF made them do it.
in any other country, senior individuals would have been fired. and yet the spin continues, as expected from the featured parties, ‘lost opportunity’, etc, and all that sort of nonsense. #SomeNeck #PulledaFastOne
” Lessons To Be Learned ”
Aaahh sure that’s the perfect name for a Eurovision song that could get us back to winning ways.
@Thom Thumb:
When I was young, I had a dream
And though the dream was very small,
It wouldn`t leave me.
To be a beggar for a fee
To play the poet or the fool
And now you see me.
And now the miracle is mine
And fault and the war begun
And now there`s nothing left to hide,
Still I………
And now I`ve nothing left but time,
Still I reach out through this empty life
Monk not guilty
@Nicholas O’Halloran: lotta people running for the hills I’d say.
@Nicholas O’Halloran:
Look at Da
i bet the monk done Da
Donnelly is a muppet. A fully qualified spoofer. As for Holohan? The whiff of arrogance from him is stifling.
@Kenmark:
he might go for president
“Lessons to be learned” , that phrase is a way for those in power to politely tell the public to F off .
If I hear lessons to be learnt one more time from a FF or FG lackey, I will lose my 5h1t!!
@Stephen Mullins:
and if i hear “Move forward” from SF
@GERARD KENNELLY: You must get tired always being wrong and having to eat **** from shinner’s. That’s what you get for being wrong so change the tune
have your say