Thai PM: No dismissal of Army Chief, no imminent coup

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-28 00:37

BANGKOK - Thailand's Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat on Thursday denied rumors that some military commanders, including the Army Chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda, would be stripped of their posts and that a coup is in the making, Government Spokesman Natthawut Saikua said.

Spokesman Natthawut Saikua was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying that Somchai told the Cabinet of his concern regarding rumors spreading through the country, especially in Bangkok, of an impending coup and military dismissals.

Having returned from abroad late Wednesday, Somchai convened the weekly Cabinet meeting in northern city of Chiang Mai, due to difficulties in the capital of Bangkok.

In order to allay concerns and confusion among the public, Natthawut said the prime minister had assigned him to inform the public that the weekly cabinet meeting is being held now in Chiang Mai instead of the capital due to "unrest in Bangkok".

The matter of transferring or sacking senior military commanders is not on the cabinet agenda, he said.

Military personnel should remain in their barracks and officers should not move or put their forces on alert, said Natthawut, adding that the public should not be worried or confused by the rumors.

Rumors of transferring or terminating senior military commanders, especially army chief Anupong, came after he called on the prime minister on Wednesday to call for fresh elections and to demand that the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy ( PAD) who now occupy Don Mueang domestic airport in Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi International Airport, to end their occupation.

Anupong insisted that he would not stage a coup, reiterating that he believed it would not end the political turmoil which resume dearly this year.