The Thai army is debating whether or not to intervene in a political standoff it helped launch some two years ago when it ousted then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Opponents of both Thaksin and the current PM have seized and shut down Bangkok’s two airports, a devastating blow to a country dependent on tourism.

Reuters via Washington Post:

Pressure has built on the military to intervene to avert widespread civil unrest after [current Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat] rejected calls to quit.

Somchai held an urgent cabinet meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai as local media reported that he was considering imposing a state of emergency and rumors that the army was preparing to launch a coup swept the capital.

“They are 100 percent on standby,” a high-ranking former military officer, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

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