Lucky Thailand gets to have a coup! But we are still stuck with this crappy government!

In the dead of night and without firing a shot, Thailand's military overthrew popularly elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday amid mounting criticism that he had undermined democracy.

The sudden, well-orchestrated coup - the first in 15 years and a throwback to an unsettled era in Thailand - was likely to spark both enthusiasm and criticism at home and abroad. The military said it would soon return power to a democratic government but did not say when.

Striking when Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly, army commander Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin sent tanks and troops into the drizzly, nighttime streets of Bangkok. The military ringed Thaksin's offices, seized control of television stations and declared a provisional authority loyal to the king.

The coup leaders declared martial law, revoked the constitution and ordered all troops not to leave duty stations without permission from their commanders. The stock exchange was to be closed Wednesday, along with schools, banks and government offices.

This is so cold that they do this while the Prime Minister was in the US. I mean you go to a meeting and come back to find that your job is gone, it is every working persons nightmare!