BANGKOK — A fugitive anti-coup activist is urging supporters to prepare for a cat-and-mouse chase with security forces in a major protest planned for Sunday.

Earlier this week, Sombat Boonngarm-anong, aka "the Dotted Editor," announced plans for a large anti-coup rally at Ratchaprasong Intersection in the heart of Bangkok's financial district on Sunday. 

However, Mr. Sombat said today that he will announce a new location for the protest by 10 am tomorrow morning in order to evade security forces, who have been locking down on other anti-coup rally sites.

Since seizing power in a coup d'etat on 22 May, the military has outlawed public demonstrations of more than five people. 

On Thursday and Friday, hundreds of soldiers and riot police sealed off Victory Monument in a massive show of force to prevent the anti-coup rallies that had become a daily occurrence.

Media reports indicate that a similar lockdown may be in store for tomorrow to block Mr. Sombat’s rally. The BTS has reportedly announced that it will suspend service to three Skytrain stations around Ratchaprasong Intersection from 9 am tomorrow until further notice.

This morning, Mr. Sombat advised protesters to closely monitor the situation on social media and be prepared to adapt quickly.

Mr. Sombat has billed the protest as a "Fancy Masquerade," urging supporters to arrive at the yet-to-be-designated protest site with masks bearing the faces of prominent political figures, such as ousted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and head of the military junta Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Mr. Sombat has been actively voicing his opposition to the military junta and organising protests on social media since he went into hiding last week after receiving a summons order from the National Council of Peace and Order.

After learning of the summons, Mr. Sombat posted on social media that he would not bow down to the NCPO's command.

"Catch me if you can!" Mr. Sombat wrote on his Facebook.

The military has since freezed Mr. Sombat's bank accounts and warned that he will face a trial in martial court and a punishment of several years in prison for defying the summons.

Mr. Sombat was also an active campaigner against the last military coup in September 2006, when he a co-founded the 19 Sep Network Against Coup D'etat. He later split from the network and founded his own group, "Thais Say No," whose members adopted red shirts as their trademark, preceding today's Redshirt movement by a year. 

Speaking to Khaosod English from hiding, Mr. Sombat said he believes the ongoing protests against the NCPO have the potential to be successful, but stressed that it is too soon to tell.

"I think we have to wait for a month first,” he said.

"Now that the coup makers have installed themselves in power, will they make any mistakes?" Mr. Sombat asked. "The people's protesters have already been formed. If the military does any mistakes, it will be exacerbated by the existing people's movement."

He also praised the role of social media in organising protests, noting that it is a crucial difference between the most recent coup d'etat and the military takeover in 2006.

"They are both coups, but the difference is that the people are better prepared this time to resist the coup," Mr. Sombat said.

Although Mr. Sombat admitted that he is concerned about potential violence on Sunday, he said believes the military will behave with restraint to preseve its image.

Asked whether he is confident that the military will not discover where he is hiding, Mr. Sombat said, "We have to see whose luck will outlast the other."

"Right now the biggest concern in my life is that I can't go to buy dim sum at 7-11," the activist added wistfully. 

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BANGKOK — Thailand will not see an election for at least a year, says the head of the military junta, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha.

In a televised address last night, Gen. Prayuth explained his three-phase "roadmap" for Thailand, following last week’s military coup d’etat and dissolution of the civilian government.  

The first phase involves "2-3 months" of military-led efforts to "reconcile" Thai society, which has become radically polarised amidst the political tumult that has rocked the country on-and-off for the past eight years. To achieve the ambitious goal of healing these divisions, the military will form local "reconcilation centres" across the country and convene a council dedicated to the "reconciliation" mission, Gen. Prayuth said.

The reconciliation effort will not award amnesty to those involved in the political violence that preceded the military's takeover, the army chief added.

After nationwide "reconciliation" is achieved, the military junta will set up an interim government and reform council to revise the constitution and solve problems of “all aspects.”

The reform phase will take about a year, Gen. Prayuth said. "It can be longer, or shorter. It depends on the situation," he said.

After reconciliation and reforms are completed,  there will be an election "under a genuine democratic regime,” the army chief said. 

According to Gen. Prayuth, this roadmap will ensure that Thailand's next election will produce a "good, honest, and just" leader that is accepted by all sides.

The televised address was the first time Thailand’s military junta has detailed its plans for the country after seizing power from the previous government and forming the National Council of Peace and Order on 22 May.

Prior to last night's speech, Gen. Prayuth evaded questions related to elections and an appointment of Prime Minister.

The speech dispelled any hope that an election will be held in Thailand in the near future. Many observers noted Gen. Prayuth's emphasis that the 15-month roadmap can be extended "depending on the situation." 

Gen. Prayuth's  roadmap immediately alarmed the United States, Thailand's biggest western ally, which has been calling on the Thai junta to organise an election and return to civilian administration as soon as possible.

"We know that they have announced a, quote, 'road map toward democracy,' but with scant details included," American State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was quoted by the AFP as saying.

The US strongly condemned the military takeover last week and has already cut military aid to Thailand in response.

Ms. Psaki said that the US would prefer to see the military set a timeline for early elections held through an “inclusive and transparent electoral process.”

"There's no reason that they can't be held in the short term," she said.

The Australian government also announced today that it will decrease its cooperation with the Thai military to protest the coup d'etat, and that it has banned the coup-makers from travelling to Australia. 

The Australian government urged the NCPO "to set a pathway for a return to democracy and the rule of law as soon as possible, to refrain from arbitrary detentions, to release those detained for political reasons and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms."

It is unclear whether international pressure will persuade Gen. Prayuth to hasten the election roadmap.

“We understand that we are living in a democratic world,” Gen. Prayuth said in last night's speech. “Please give us time to change attitudes, values and many other things.”

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by Cod Satrusayang (DPA)

BANGKOK — A week after seizing control of the country, Thailand’s military junta has begun sealing off the rally site of Bangkok’s burgeoning anti-coup movement, forcing activists to seek new spaces to voice their defiance.

For the past two days, soldiers and police have blockaded all roads leading to Bangkok's Victory Monument, where anti-coup protesters began staging regular rallies two days after the military’s National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) staged a coup on 22 May.

Despite the martial law ban on public gatherings, security forces tolerated the protests for several days. But after some protesters attacked a military Humvee at a rally on 28 May, the army began clamping down on the iconic site.

Yesterday, the military lockdown around Victory Monument forced protesters to join another anti-coup gathering on Thammasat University's Tha Prachan campus in Bangkok's old quarters. 

The student-organised protest was held in the university's Bodhi Tree Courtyard, the historic spot where student activists staged a protest that later snowballed into a popular uprising against the military junta in October 1973. 

Several hours after yesterday's protest began, university staff asked the students to move their rally off campus, citing the martial law ban on public gatherings. Arguments ensued, but the activists eventually retreated to just outside the university's southern gate.

The protest lasted until 6 pm, after which the activists dispersed peacefully.

Another small anti-coup demonstration was held at Chong Non Si BTS Station, where ten activists staged a "read-in." The demonstrators stood in a group and silently read George Orwell's Nineteen-Eightyfour  to voice their dissent against the military junta. 

The leader of the group, Pimsiri, said the protest was intended as a non-violent gesture of dissent that would avoid confrontation with soldiers. Ms. Pimsiri, who asked to be identified only by her first name, also expressed hopes that authorities will not crack down on "read-ins" in the future, given that Bangkok is promoting itself as the "City of Books."

The military lockdown at Victory Monument continued for a second day today, preventing any protests from taking place. There was no rally at Victory Monument yesterday either, except for a pair of women who raised placards bearing anti-coup slogans and were promptly detained by security forces.

A Belgian man was also arrested and taken away from the area after he displayed a T-Shirt with the words "Peace, Please." No explanation was given by the military for his arrest.

It is not clear how long the military will continue to lockdown Victory Monument, an important transportation hub for Bangkokians.

Fugitive activist Sombat Boonngarm-anong has called for a major anti-coup protest on 1 June at Ratchaprasong Intersection in central Bangkok.

CHIANG MAI — As part of the military's ongoing effort to de-politicize Thai society, security forces in Chiang Mai province have taken down flags affiliated with the Redshirt political movement that used to adorn Wat Sri Boon Reung Temple.

Police officers arrived at the temple in Mueang district yesterday evening to take down the flags, which bear the official emblem of the Redshirt umbrella organization, the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).

No Redshirt supporters showed up to resist the police operation. The temple’s abbot, Phra Kru Suthep Sitthikun looked on in silence.

Phra Kru Suthep told reporters that the temple was a popular religious destination for the local Redshirt group, Love Chiang Mai 51, which organised rallies in support of now-deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and launched attacks on rival protest groups in the province. Chiang Mai province, the home of the Shinawatra family, is a stronghold of the Redshirt movement. 

According to Phra Kru Suthep, members of Love Chiang Mai 51 hung the UDD decorations and later painted the wall of the temple red without any involvement from the temple's administration. 

"The temple-goers did it on their own. I didn't know anything about it," Phra Kru Suthep said.

Nevertheless, the abbot said he did not oppose the idea.

"The temple is a public space," Phra Kru Suthep said. "The temple-goers have the right to do whatever they want. I didn't oppose them."

Phra Kru Suthep said he was notified a few days ago that a local military unit would be sending security forces to strip the temple of any political decoration, which the abbot said he agreed to.

"Whatever that helps our country return to normalcy, I am glad to do it," Phra Kru Suthep said.

According to the abbot, the military decided to send police officers instead of soldiers to the temple in order to avoid a confrontation with local Redshirt supporters.

A week after it seized power from the Redshirt-allied government, the military's National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) announced plans to establish "reconciliation centres" across the country in an effort to convince Thailand's political factions to put aside their ideological differences and work together for the sake of the country's "unity.”

The plan is unlikely to win the favor of anti-coup Redshirt activists who accuse the military of bias against their political faction, citing the mass summons and detentions of Redshirt supporters and the military's heavy handed approach to anti-coup protests in Bangkok.