Generals lose popular ground with Thais

Thailand is still under martial law. Authorities say they can't relax their grip as Thaksin loyalists may try to stir unrest in rural strongholds, where his populist policies and ebullient style resonated with voters.

In Bangkok, civil libertarians have staged small rallies in defiance of martial law. On Sunday, 600 people marched to the Army headquarters calling for the regime to disband and for the return of democracy. "This is the only way we can express our feelings against the CNS. There is no other way. We have no right of speech," says Jeerawajara Chanatarakulpol, a tour-company owner who joined the rally.

The Sept. 19 coup ended months of political turmoil fueled by peaceful protests over the tax-free, $1.9 billion sale of Thaksin's family-owned telecommunications company to an arm of the Singapore government. When Thaksin refused to go quietly, the military intervened with the sanction of King Bhumibol, a constitutional monarch who has reigned since 1946.

Weary of political gridlock and fearful of violence, many Thais accepted the idea of a royalist coup as a way to rebuild a fragile democracy. But after a honeymoon, the interim government has lost its way, botching a currency-control policy that triggered a stock-exchange crash and failing to calm nerves in the aftermath of the bombs.

A private poll in Bangkok and nearby provinces after the bombs pegged the government's approval rating at 48 percent, down from 90 percent in October.

"The military is not solving anything. It's just creating a new set of problems," says Thongchai Winichakul, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "No matter how horrible Thaksin was, this is not the way out."

The bombings also sparked rows between retired and serving Army officers that raised fears of a power struggle in the military. CNS leader Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratglin went on TV to deny that troops seen moving into Bangkok were staging another coup.

Security analysts and military officers say these tensions reflect the divisions in the junta, fueled by rivalry over who will succeed General Sondhi when he retires as Army chief in September. But they add that the regime has closed ranks.

"I don't see a real split in the CNS, but there are lots of disagreements. They're worried that [Prime Minister] Surayud is moving too slowly," says Panitan, an expert on military affairs.

Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a CNS spokesman, said the "old powers" had spread the rumors of a rift and a coup plot. "People who lost their privileges will try anything to discredit the government....Thai people accept this coup. It will lead the country back to democracy," he says.

Attention turned last week to the broadcast media, after a junta member warned TV and radio stations not to report on Thaksin and his aides, as it would impede "national reconciliation." The largest pay-TV provider responded by blocking the CNN interview.

Critics say the regime is treading the same path as Thaksin, whom it accused of wrecking media freedom. "One of the pretexts to the coup was that the media was one of the sectors that needed rescuing. Now it says it poses a danger to Thai society. It's gone from being a victim to a threat," says Roby Alampay, director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a watchdog group based in Bangkok.

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