Martial law in Thailand

Thailand's army declared martial law on Tuesday to restore order after six months of anti-government protests that have left the country without a proper functioning government. However, the military of the South East Asian country denied that it was staging a coup. The caretaker government led by supporters of self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was still in office, military officials and the country’s justice minister said, following the surprise announcement on television at 3:00am Thai local time (2000 GMT on Monday). Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha later said the military was taking charge of public security because of violent protests that had claimed lives and caused damage. Several dozen people have been killed since the protests began in November last year. Thailand has been stuck in political limbo since Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s younger sister, and nine of her ministers were dismissed on May 7 after a court found them guilty of abuse of power. An acting prime minister has since taken over. The crisis, the latest instalment of a near-decade-long power struggle between former telecoms tycoon Thaksin and the royalist establishment, has brought the country to the brink of recession. The military, which put down a pro-Thaksin protest movement in 2010, has staged numerous coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. The last one was in 2006 to oust Thaksin, a billionaire who commands huge support among the rural poor, according to international news agencies.