I Do Not Think This Is A Good Thing

The military junta that is in control of Thailand has banned all political party meetings and the formation of any new political parties. They have also restricted all public meetings and placed the media under censorship. That makes me very unhappy. Even if you understand that Thailand was in a constitutional crisis before the coup, these measures appear to be unnecessary in light of the apparent lack of any opposition at all.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's new ruling junta on Thursday announced a ban on meetings of political parties and barred the establishment of new parties. The announcement, made on all Thai television stations, said the action was taken to maintain peace and order.

The bans were the latest moves by the junta to maintain control, even though no open opposition has surfaced to its Tuesday night takeover. Other moves include limitations on public meetings and restrictions on the media.

Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra lay low in London as the junta purged his followers and also took steps to possibly go after the vast assets of the tycoon turned politician.

Thaksin said in a statement released in London that he will take a "deserved rest" and he urged the military to quickly arrange for new national elections. He also urged "all parties to find ways and means to reconcile and work toward national reconciliation for the sake of our king and country."

Less than 48 hours after tanks rolled into the streets to overthrow Thaksin's regime, the Thai capital appeared to have returned to normalcy, with all businesses reopening and Bangkok's notorious traffic jams returning with a vengeance.

And despite condemnation of the coup by Western and some Asian governments, hope emerged on the homefront that the new government might have a chance to resolve a bloody Muslim insurgency that has led to the deaths of more than 1,700 people.

Hopefully Agam will have a Thai perspective up about this at some point. He does have some good links up, but nothing on this new development yet.