Keep a cool head, no coup repeat: Army chief
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Army chief General Prayuth Chanocha on Friday poured cold water over any attempts to lure the soldiers out of the barracks, saying he would not fall prey to staging a coup in the face of the push for charter change.
“The coup idea can not be reignited,” he said.
Prayuth urged the opposing sides to try to resolve their differences via peaceful means and within the rule of law. The country should heed the lesson that the country would suffer the consequences if political violence were to erupt again, he said.
With the red and yellow shirts stepping up street protests, the Army chief urged all sides to exercise restraint and comply with the laws.
"Any differences should be resolved under the law,” he said.
In a veiled reference to the quarrels over charter change and reconciliation bills, he said he deemed it appropriate to inflame the situation by politicising the laws.
All three branches of power, government, legislature and judiciary, were working to overcome the political conflict, he said, calling for coolheadedness rather than rash reactions.
“Thailand has passed through four phases of history lasting 700 to 800 years; if we do not uphold the law, then the country will revert back to the barbaric period dominated by 500 kinds of bandits,” he said.
