Coffee-shop trade suffers as the General keeps Thais guessing if he’ll run for office

Anyone who claims to understand Thailand’s politics should be sectioned. The country is preparing for a national election in December and the leader of last year’s bloodless military coup, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, is retreating on his promise to drive his tank back to barracks.

Anyone who claims to understand Thailand’s politics should be sectioned. The country is preparing for a national election in December and the leader of last year’s bloodless military coup, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, is retreating on his promise to drive his tank back to barracks. Instead, he’s flirting with the idea of clinging to power by running for prime minister. Sonthi, 60, retires from the military at the end of September, and is already being courted by a phalanx of political parties. The last time the military overstayed their welcome was in 1992 when efforts to perpetuate their dictatorship met with widespread anger that led to bloodshed and eventual royal intervention.