Thailand calm but uncertain after coup, reports church worker
-20/09/06
The situation o
Thailand calm but uncertain after coup, reports church worker
-20/09/06
The situation on the ground in Thailand appears to be calm but uncertain during the first hours of the coup reported yesterday (19 September 2006) ñ according to a church worker from International Ministries commenting back to the American Baptist Churches USA.
One soldier on a tank told a BBC reporter: “We don’t know why we’re here, we’ve been told to say nothing. We’re just following orders.” Others have described the situation as tense, but controlled.
Stanley Murray and the IM crisis management team say that they will be in close communication with partner church leaders as the situation develops. IM has a long relationship with the people of Thailand. IM’s work in the country, then known as Siam, began in 1833, when pioneer workers John and Sarah Taylor Jones first arrived in Bangkok.
The coup on 19 September began when General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the head of the Thai army, declared martial law, suspended the constitution and surrounded government buildings in the capital, Bangkok, with tanks.
The army has declared its loyalty to Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, at the same time that it seeks to depose the nation’s Prime Minister, Taksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra was in New York at the United Nations General Assembly session at the time of the coup.
Reuters has reported that the Thai Armed Forces chief announced the creation of a political ëReform Commissioní, while army forces and police control Bangkok. The military later declared martial law, and the military then revoked the Thai Constitution and suspended Parliament.
Meanwhile, armed forces have taken up strategic positions around the town, occupying key intersections. Additionally, unauthorized military movements were swiftly banned, and all soldiers were ordered to report to their duty stations.
Charles Jones, IM’s acting executive director, called for prayer on behalf of all the people of Thailand.
Some 94% of Thailand’s population is Theravada Buddhist. As of 2003 there were 278,000 Catholics (0.4% of the total population) and 262,000 Protestants of various traditions.
[Also on Ekklesia: Thai government drops origami peace bombs; Christian Aid speaks out over support for sex workers in Thailand; Tsunami: justice as well as relief needed, say Christians; Churches join NGO plea for action on Burma; Asian churches to challenge violence against children; Christians and Buddhists should love humanity, says Cardinal; Remembering the Nonviolent 9/11 by Chaiwat Satha-Anand ñ originally published in The Mennonite. The author is on the faculty of political science at Thammasat University, Thailand, is vice president of the Strategic Nonviolence Committee of the National Security Council, and is a member of the National Reconciliation Commission]
Thailand calm but uncertain after coup, reports church worker
-20/09/06
The situation on the ground in Thailand appears to be calm but uncertain during the first hours of the coup reported yesterday (19 September 2006) ñ according to a church worker from International Ministries commenting back to the American Baptist Churches USA.
One soldier on a tank told a BBC reporter: “We don’t know why we’re here, we’ve been told to say nothing. We’re just following orders.” Others have described the situation as tense, but controlled.
Stanley Murray and the IM crisis management team say that they will be in close communication with partner church leaders as the situation develops. IM has a long relationship with the people of Thailand. IM’s work in the country, then known as Siam, began in 1833, when pioneer workers John and Sarah Taylor Jones first arrived in Bangkok.
The coup on 19 September began when General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the head of the Thai army, declared martial law, suspended the constitution and surrounded government buildings in the capital, Bangkok, with tanks.
The army has declared its loyalty to Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, at the same time that it seeks to depose the nation’s Prime Minister, Taksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra was in New York at the United Nations General Assembly session at the time of the coup.
Reuters has reported that the Thai Armed Forces chief announced the creation of a political ëReform Commissioní, while army forces and police control Bangkok. The military later declared martial law, and the military then revoked the Thai Constitution and suspended Parliament.
Meanwhile, armed forces have taken up strategic positions around the town, occupying key intersections. Additionally, unauthorized military movements were swiftly banned, and all soldiers were ordered to report to their duty stations.
Charles Jones, IM’s acting executive director, called for prayer on behalf of all the people of Thailand.
Some 94% of Thailand’s population is Theravada Buddhist. As of 2003 there were 278,000 Catholics (0.4% of the total population) and 262,000 Protestants of various traditions.
[Also on Ekklesia: Thai government drops origami peace bombs; Christian Aid speaks out over support for sex workers in Thailand; Tsunami: justice as well as relief needed, say Christians; Churches join NGO plea for action on Burma; Asian churches to challenge violence against children; Christians and Buddhists should love humanity, says Cardinal; Remembering the Nonviolent 9/11 by Chaiwat Satha-Anand ñ originally published in The Mennonite. The author is on the faculty of political science at Thammasat University, Thailand, is vice president of the Strategic Nonviolence Committee of the National Security Council, and is a member of the National Reconciliation Commission]