BANGKOK: Thai Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday that the army has not planned a new coup d’etat as rumoured, warning all parties not to raise any legal issue to cause conflicts in the nation, Thai News Agency reported.
In response to speculations lately on a new coup, the Thai army commander-in-chief insisted that soldiers have followed government orders and worked as a government mechanism to solve national problems, cautioning any group intending to create unrest to review their roles and take responsibility for their actions.
Regarding different opinions on constitutional amendments, General Prayuth said all parties are to obey rules and laws, explaining that laws have existed to reduce conflicts; so, they should not be raised to create any conflict.
Meanwhile, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit told reporters that he did not expect red-shirt demonstrators who opted to rally in front of the Parliament would clash with yellow-shirt protesters who decided to gather at the nearby Royal Plaza, as core leaders of the yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had announced that they would protest only against reconciliation bills and against the Charter amendments affecting the royal institution. — Bernama