Abhisit is asked: Is the era of military coups over?

Does Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva think the era of military coups is over?

In response to that question posed by Forbes magazine's Eric Ellis in the latest edition, the Thai prime minister had this to say:

"We hope so, I would have said, 'Yes, but I've had a number of lessons. After 1992, we were very determined that the 1991 coup was the last one. But it's sad to say that during the Thaksin years, they were dragged back into politics. Every time there's a coup now, the military learn a hard and more expensive lesson that, though they might get cheers from people when they come in to restore order, they are not in a position to govern..."

Abhisit added: "Part of the mistake of the Thaksin years was involving the military as a political tool, creating the reasons or excuses, depending on how you see things, for a coup. If you look back at the history of coups, you can always list the reasons in the first announcement of the coupmakers: corruption is on top, division, violating the monarchy. It's always been like that. If we eliminate these conditions, there's no reason why there should be one."