Thai army takes control as political divide widens

Thailand's army today took control of the government two days after declaring martial law as a meeting with the two rival factions aimed at finding a solution to six months of anti-government protests failed to yield results.

In an announcement broadcast on the television Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said the move was aimed at finding a solution to six months of anti-government protests and that the army had to restore order and push through reforms.

Prayuth made the announcement after he held a meeting with all rival factions aimed at finding a solution to six months of anti-government protests. Wednesday's talks, however, ended inconclusively with neither side backing down from their entrenched positions, participants said.

"In order for the situation to return to normal quickly and for society to love and be at peace again ... and to reform the structure of the political, economic and social structure, the military needs to take control of power," Prayuth said in the televised announcement.

The broadcast came shortly after soldiers took anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban out of the meeting that was aimed at finding a solution to the drawn-out power struggle between supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and opponents backed by the royalist establishment.

The army, which declared martial law on Tuesday, however continued to reject the accusation that the measure amounted to a coup.

The army had let rival protesters remain on the streets, but, after the coup announcement, a senior army official the protests would be escorted away from their rally sites.

It has also clamped down on the media, including partisan television channels, and warned people not to spread inflammatory material on social media.

Leaders of the ruling Puea Thai Party and the opposition Democrat Party, the Senate leader and the five-member Election Commission had joined the second round of talks at an army base in Bangkok. But, with acting prime minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan sticking to his party's position that his government could not resign as its enemies were demanding as that would contravene the constitution.

Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of the fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was forced to step down as premier by a court two weeks ago, but her caretaker government remains nominally in power, despite the declaration of martial law and six months of sometimes violent protests aimed at ousting it.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications tycoon, has been living in self-exile since 2008 to avoid a jail term for graft, but still commands the loyalty of vast majority of the rural and urban poor and exerts a huge influence in the country's politics, especially through a government run by his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

The protesters say Thaksin is corrupt and is using taxpayers' money to buy votes with populist giveaways. They want a "neutral" interim prime minister'' to oversee electoral reforms aimed at ridding the country of the Shinawatra family's political influence.

The raging dispute that continued for well over six months has hurt the economy.

Thailand saw its gross domestic product contract 2.1 per cent in January-March from the previous quarter, partly due the unrest, adding to fears it is stumbling into recession.