On 19 th September 2006, the military led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin staged a coup d'etat in the name of the Council for Democratic Reform, while Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra, the democratically elected prime minister of Thailand , was on a state visit to the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The military claimed the following four reasons as being the rationale for the coup d'etat:

Immediately after the coup d'etat, martial law had been announced, and remains still enforceable in a major part of the Kingdom. Further, according to the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 7 , any political gathering by 5 persons or more is prohibited, and any violation of this ban shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or fined not exceeding 10,000 Baht, or both.

Later on 24 th September 2006, according to the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 22 , the Council again emphasized that no gathering whether in favour of or against the Council shall be done until further notice by the Council.

Although the junta appointed government claims to hold elections soon, the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 15 , which prohibits any political meeting or gathering as well as setting up any new political party, remains in force.

The Constitution of Thailand, which had been drafted and enacted by democratic means in 1997, has been revoked, so was the Constitutional Court . The other Courts of Justice, according to the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 3 , shall continue to perform their judicial roles subject to the laws and orders of the Council for Democratic Reform.

On 20 th September 2006, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has issued the Announcement on the Appointment of the Leader of the Council for Democratic Reform by which his Majesty the King has appointed him as the Head of the Council for Democratic Reform.

Freedom of expression or opinion is no longer available in the Kingdom as the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 5 came into force on 20 th September 2006, authorizing the ICT Ministry to ban, suspend or block any message, news or information distributed in any form which may affect the Democratic Reform as conducted by the Council.

According to the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 5 the Council for Democratic Reform welcomes student participation in politics and particularly their participation in the upcoming general election.

The Council for Democratic Reform, by taking into account the distress of the farmers and workers, issued the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 6 considering measures to help to alleviate the hardship of the farmers and workers. However, due to national security concern, workers and farmers are requested to remain calm and not to engage in any activities seeking remedies at the moment nor are they allowed to make any demands.

By the Order of the Head of the Democratic Reform Council No. 24/2549 , it was resolved that the Council for Democratic Reform agreed to appoint Mr. Charan Pakdithanakul as the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Justice.

According to the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 29 the Auditor-General shall remain in office until 30 th September 2007. Within 90 days after the current Auditor-General vacates her position, the selection and appointment process shall be completed. During such selection process, the current Auditor-General shall provisionally continue to perform the duties of the State Audit Commission and the Auditor-General.

By virtue of the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 19, dated 22 nd September 2006, the Council for Democratic Reform re-enacted the Anti Corruption Law and appointed a new National Counter Corruption Commission.

According to the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 13, the Council for Democratic Reform, in order to have elections, ordered that the Organic Law on the Election Commission shall continue to be in force and also appointed an Election Commission. However, please refer to Announcement by the Council of Democratic Reform No. 15

On 24 th September 2006, the Council for Democratic Reform, considering that the coup d'etat was staged due to alleged corruption by Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra, issued the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 23 establishing an Asset Examination Committee. The members of the Committee are various senior government officials such as the Attorney General, the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, the Secretary General of the SEC, the Secretary General of the Anti Money Laundry Committee etc.; Mr. Sawat Chotephanich was appointed as the Chairman of the Committee.

However, on 30 th September 2006, the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No.23 was repealed and replaced with the Announcement by the Council for Democratic Reform No. 30. All the members of the Asset Examination Committee were replaced by another group of persons. The scope of work of the Asset Examination Committee has also been expanded.