Thai King Backs Coup Leader

Army Chief Seizes Power In Bloodless Coup; Pledges Elections In One Year

(CBS/AP)  "We would like to reaffirm that we don't have any intention to rule the country and will return power to the Thai people as soon as possible," he said, flanked by the three armed forces chiefs and the national police chief.

A statement from coup leaders urged workers and farmers — Thaksin's key constituents — to remain calm, and said unauthorized gatherings of more than five people were punishable by six months in prison under martial law.

The Nation newspaper in Bangkok said several senior government officials and others close to Thaksin had been arrested, their fates unknown. It said they included Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit and Supreme Military Commander Gen. Ruengroj Maharsaranond. Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, one of Thaksin's closest political associates, fled to Paris with her family, it said.

Reacting to rumors that he would be appointed interim prime minister, central bank head Pridiyathorn Devakula said, "I haven't been approached and I don't know whether I am a candidate."

He said that the public has accepted the coup, so it was unlikely to have much impact on foreign confidence in the country, and that the Thai baht currency had recovered from its overnight low with no intervention.

In New York, a Thai business executive who said he was speaking on behalf of Thaksin said the toppled leader was not resigned to his fate.

"The prime minister has not given up his power," said Tom Kruesopon, chief executive officer of Boon Rawd Trading International Co., who said he was traveling with Thaksin.

But Thaksin's official government spokesman, Surapong Suebwonglee, also traveling with him, was gloomier. "We have to accept what happened," he said. "We are not coming back soon."

Some Thais welcomed the coup as a necessary climax to months of demands for Thaksin's resignation amid allegations of corruption and electoral skullduggery, and a worsening Muslim insurgency in south Thailand.

The U.S. State Department said it was uneasy about the takeover and hopes "the Thai people will resolve their political differences in accord with democratic principles and the rule of law."

Australia said it was concerned to see democracy "destroyed," and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said her country "condemns" the coup.

Japan called for efforts to quickly restore democracy in Thailand, where many leading Japanese businesses have factories and affiliates.

Sondhi, 59, known to be close to Thailand's constitutional monarch, is a Muslim in a Buddhist-dominated nation.

He was selected last year to head the army, partly because it was felt he could better deal with the Muslim insurgency in the south, where 1,700 people have been killed since 2004. He has urged negotiations with the separatists, in contrast to Thaksin's hard-line approach.

Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon before entering politics, handily won three general elections after coming to power in 2001 and garnered great support among the rural poor for his populist policies.

But he alienated the urban middle class, intellectuals and pro-democracy activists. They began mass street demonstrations late last year, charging him with abuse of power, corruption and emasculation of the country's democratic institutions, including media that were once among Asia's freest.