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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 001764 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2026 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS MOPS TH MY
SUBJECT: "NO TEARS FOR THAKSIN" -- INITIAL MALAYSIAN 
REACTION TO THAI COUP 
 
 
Classified By: Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark rea 
sons 1.4 (b and d). 
 
¶1. (S) Summary:  Malaysian officials and politicians reacted 
with ambivalence on September 20 to news of Thailand's 
military coup, shedding no tears for the widely disliked 
Thaksin, but expressing disapproval at the use of force to 
change their neighbor's government.  Malaysians, beginning 
with Prime Minister Abdullah, voiced their expectation that 
the Thai military would move quickly to restore democratic 
civilian rule.  Armed Forces Chief Admiral Anwar and various 
Malaysian politicians expressed hope that Thaksin's ouster 
would bring better peace prospects for their Muslim Malay 
kinsmen in southern Thailand.  In the meantime, Malaysian 
police reportedly stepped up their readiness at border 
points.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, speaking to 
the press in New York on September 19, said he was "shocked" 
by the coup, noting that a forcible change in government 
would be unpopular compared with democratic change through 
elections.  He also pointed out, however, that the Thai 
military had mentioned its intention to return quickly to 
democracy.  "That is an acknowledgment that we hope can be 
implemented as soon as possible, and if possible, an election 
that has been planned can be carried out at an appropriate 
time," Abdullah stated. 
 
¶3. (C) Malaysian interlocutors in conversations with us 
September 20 expressed some ambivalence toward the coup, 
reflecting both concern over the event of a military takeover 
in a neighboring country and also the general dislike many 
Malaysians have for Thaksin related to his perceived 
heavy-handed approach to the violence in Thailand's ethnic 
Malay and Muslim south.  Abdul Razak Baginda, a close advisor 
to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, told Polcouns on 
September 20, "People may not like Thaksin, but a coup is a 
setback for Thai democracy.  Malaysians will be happy to see 
him (Thaksin) go, though."  In response to Polcouns' query, 
Wan Ahmad Farid, a political secretary to Prime Minister 
Abdullah, expressed no anxiety over events in Thailand and 
struck a comic tone:  "The Thai's change their government as 
often as the Queen changes her guards." 
 
¶4.  (S) Malaysian Chief of the Armed Forces Admiral Anwar, in 
a September 20 conversation with the DATT, described the coup 
as Thailand's internal affair.  He held that the coup would 
not affect military cooperation between Malaysia and 
Thailand, and in fact it offered the potential to increase 
such cooperation in the future.  Anwar was hopeful that 
Thaksin's ouster would lead to a new, more effective strategy 
to address the violence in southern Thailand.  He also 
expected the Thai military to quickly transition to a 
civilian government.  Noting that he was speaking personally, 
Admiral Anwar implied that Thaksin had brought the coup on 
himself by mishandling the crisis in the Muslim south and by 
failing to listen to his generals. 
 
¶5.  (U) An official of the opposition Pan-Islam Party of 
Malaysia (PAS), youth wing leader Salahuddin Ayub, expressed 
his party's hope that the change in the Thai government would 
result in a different policy toward Thailand's Muslim south. 
On September 20, Salahuddin told reporters, "Although (Thai 
General) Sonthi, a Muslim, is not seen as acting on behalf of 
the Muslims in southern Thailand and is believed to have 
carried out the coup at the behest of the King, it is hoped 
that with the removal of Thaksin, the atrocities and 
sufferings of Muslims in the south can be stopped as soon as 
possible and negotiations towards a just peace deal can be 
initiated."  He added that, "the hatred of Muslims throughout 
the world towards the Thai government can be reduced if 
immediate actions are initiated to stop the spilling of blood 
in southern Thailand." 
 
¶6.  (U) Parliament opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, former 
chairman and senior leader of the Democratic Action Party 
(DAP), released a statement on September 20 entitled, "No 
tears for Thaksin but tears for Thai democracy."  Lim 
referenced accusations against Thaksin of "rampant 
corruption, abuses of power and subversion of democratic 
institutions," while also stating that the military coup had 
undone "decades of Thai progress in terms of democracy, human 
rights and the rule of law."  Lim called for the immediate 
restoration of democratic and constitutional institutions. 
 
¶7.  (C) The September 20 edition of Malaysia's largest 
English-language daily newspaper, The Star, reported that 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001764  002 OF 002 
 
 
flights, buses and trains bound for Thailand had all kept to 
their schedules overnight and remained unimpeded in their 
journeys into Thailand.  The Thai Embassy also told us that 
the border situation remained normal.  However, The Star's 
bureau chief in the border state of Kelantan, Ian McIntyre, 
informed us that his police sources were preparing for "a 
possible flood of people from Southern Thailand into 
Kelantan," in the event of an intensification of the Thai 
military's crackdown on suspected Muslim militants.  Malay 
language newspapers Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian 
reported that Malaysian police have tightened security checks 
along the border.  During the afternoon of September 20, the 
deputy police chief in the border state of Kelantan was 
quoted in radio reports as saying he had temporarily 
increased police readiness at all stations near the border 
with Thailand, and that his forces were "preparing for 
contingencies" related to the coup. 
LAFLEUR