BANGKOK, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Thailand's prime minister, in New York to address the United States, declared a state of emergency Tuesday as Army troops staged a coup attempt in Bangkok.
With Thaksin Shinawatra out of the country, Army tanks and hundreds of soldiers took up positions outside Government House and set up roadblocks in central Bangkok. State-controlled television announced the chief of the army, Lt. Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, and the "Council of Political Reform" had taken control "to maintain law and order," CNN reported.
Reports said military forces had declared their loyalty to King Bhumibol, and an army-owned television station broadcast file film of the royal family and played patriotic music.
Thaksin had ordered cabinet ministers by Internet not to make unnecessary foreign trips after he arrived in New York address the U.N. General Assembly, the Thai News Agency reported.
He has been under considerable pressure to resign amid charges of corruption and abuse of power and had said he might step down as prime minister but remain head of the ruling party.
Thailand's April election was thrown out by the nation's Constitutional Court and new elections had been set for Oct. 15, nearly three years early.
