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More coup rumors rattle Bangkok
2007-01-05
The New Year bombs that killed three people in the Thai capital were part of a concerted bid to undermine the post-coup government, the army chief said on Friday after rumors of another military putsch swept the jittery city. "It is a movement to disrupt the national security, the society and the economy," Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who staged a September 19 coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said on army-run Channel 5 television. Late on Thursday, as rumors of major troop movements around Bangkok sped through its 9 million inhabitants, Sonthi denied any plots to unseat the post-coup administration and the Council for National Security (CNS), as the coup command is now called. As a measure of the panic, one theory was that the CNS was staging a coup against itself to boost its prestige and status after a problem-strewn three months in charge, culminating in the unprecedented New Year's Eve bombings. "These losers are doing everything they can to discredit the September 19 coup. They are doing everything to show that the country is in chaos and the CNS can't restore peace as we have promised," Sonthi said. A poll released on Friday suggested the bombs were having their desired effect, with about half of 1,600 Bangkok residents saying they wanted the army-backed government to stay, against 60 percent in December and 90 percent in October when it took power. "The masterminds of the bombs accomplished what they have aimed for," chief pollster Noppadon Kannika told Reuters. STOCKS SUFFER Despite around 2,000 soldiers manning 300 security check-points in the capital, the streets were normal on Friday, but Sonthi's appeal for calm failed to ease the concerns of investors, who dumped Thai stocks for the third straight day. "People are scared and panicky. There has been so much bad news there has been broad panic selling," said Chaiyaporn Nompitakcharoen of Bualuang Securities. The Thai bourse -- Asia's worst performer of 2006 -- closed down 3.1 percent, after falling 4.5 percent in the first two trading days of 2007 amid fears that the bombs presaged a year of violent political upheaval. Leisure industry stocks were particularly hard-hit, with top movie theater operator Major Cineplex falling 8.2 percent as the capital's party-loving population stayed in. Food delivery firms reported jammed switchboards and soaring sales. Despite the government's insistence that politicians "who have lost power" were behind the blasts -- a claim most Thais take as implicating ousted prime minister Thaksin -- it appears to be backed by no concrete evidence. Sonthi even admitted the masterminds would not be caught as they would have already cut ties with their men on the ground. "I can't identify who they are yet, but the main focus is on the people who have lost political benefits," he said. Army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told the country again on Friday to brace itself for a repeat of the attacks, which other ministers said looked to be the work of dissident police and soldiers. "Based on our intelligence, we'd like to ask the people to be on alert and help us monitor the situation for a while," Surayud told reporters after a meeting with Sonthi. But Surayud said he would not back off a plan to lift martial law in Bangkok and half of the country, a measure he approved in November but which has yet to gain the signature of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. There has been no explanation for the king's delay. Surayud said Sonthi had promised to inform the public next time troops had to be moved to avoid more public panic. As for the bombers, the government continues to rule out foreign terrorist groups and Muslim militants who have been fighting Bangkok's rule in the far south for three years, despite some similarities in style. Thaksin, a former police lieutenant-colonel now in exile in Beijing, has denied any involvement in the blasts, which prompted the United States, Britain and Australia to tell their citizens to be careful moving around Bangkok and to avoid large crowds. (Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak)
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