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 The army moved on Thursday after failing to forge a compromise in
a power struggle between Yingluck's populist government and the
royalist establishment, which brought months of sometimes violent
unrest to Bangkok's streets.
The military detained Yingluck on Friday when she and scores of
other people, most of them political associates, were summoned to an
army facility in Bangkok. More people have been summoned this
weekend, including some academics.
A senior officer told Reuters Yingluck could be held for up to a
week and media reported she had been taken to an army base in
Saraburi province north of Bangkok, but an aide denied that.
"Now she's in a safe place ... She has not been detained in any
military camp. That's all I can say at this moment," the aide said,
declining to be identified.
A source from her Puea Thai Party added: "We can't say she is
absolutely free because there are soldiers in the area, monitoring
her."
This source said several former ministers from her cabinet were
being held in army facilities in Saraburi.
Army deputy spokesman Winthai Suvaree told a news conference that
anyone being held would not be detained for more than seven days. He
did not mention Yingluck.
Thailand's political woes are the latest chapter in a nearly
decade-long clash between the Bangkok-based establishment and
Thaksin Shinawatra, a former telecommunications tycoon who broke the
mould of Thai politics with pro-poor policies that won him huge
support and repeated electoral victories.
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and left the country after a 2008
graft conviction, but he remains Thailand's most influential
politician and was the guiding hand behind the government of
Yingluck, his sister.
Despite international calls for the restoration of democratic
government, army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has not promised a
swift return to civilian rule, insisting there must be broad reforms
and stability first.
"We must have economic, social and political reforms before
elections," Prayuth told hundreds of civil servants on Friday in his
first comments on his plans since the coup.
"If the situation is peaceful, we are ready to return power to the
people," he added.
But reforms could take many months and stability could be elusive.
Human Rights Watch said rights in Thailand were in "free fall".
STIRRINGS OF OPPOSITION
The military has banned gatherings of more than five people,
censored the media and imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, but that
has not stopped some people from showing their disapproval.
About 200 people gathered at a mall and entertainment complex in
northern Bangkok on Saturday, holding up handwritten slogans such as
"Anti the Coup".
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Police tried to move them on, but they were shouted down and
retreated, a Reuters reporter said. The crowd, with young men on
motorcycles leading the way, then tried to move south to the Victory
Monument roundabout, but police lined up across the road to block
them.
There was some pushing and some plastic water bottles were thrown,
but no major violence or injuries, the reporter said.
On Friday, several hundred people, including students, had gathered
in a central Bangkok shopping district until soldiers dispersed
them. Those protesters were expected to rally again on Saturday.
A small crowd also staged a protest in the northern city of Chiang
Mai, Thaksin's hometown, on Friday, a Reuters witness said.
The real danger for the military would be a sustained mass campaign
by Thaksin's "red shirt" loyalists.
Thaksin's supporters in his northern and northeastern heartlands
have repeatedly said they would act if another pro-Thaksin
government was forced from power unconstitutionally.
Thaksin has not commented publicly since the coup.
A resolute, well-financed campaign by Thaksin's red shirts, whose
ranks include armed activists, would be a major test for the
military.
The use of force to put down protesters could squander any
legitimacy the military leaders may have after saying they took
power in the first place to end violence and restore order.
A 2010 crackdown on Thaksin's supporters ended in serious bloodshed
and damage to the army's image. Just over a year later a pro-Thaksin
government was back in power after Yingluck's sweeping election
victory.
Prayuth also said on Friday that paying farmers money they were owed
under a failed subsidy scheme organized by Yingluck's government was
"an urgent issue".
(Writing by Robert Birsel and Alan Raybould; Additional reporting by
Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Kim Coghill and Ron Popeski)
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