There has been an influx of foreign reporters and photographers to Bangkok to document Thailand's first coup of the new millennium. The last one took place 15 years ago.

Anna Cristeto of La Gaceta, a Spanish economic daily, yesterday attended the first press conference called by the Administrative Reform Council.

She said her original assignment was in Cambodia but she came to Bangkok after receiving a phone call from her boss asking her to cover the coup.

Cristeto said she was not sure how long she would stay in Bangkok or whether she would get to cover her original assignment.

A Singapore-based Japanese reporter, requesting anonymity, said he was alerted about the coup at around 11pm and was instructed by a bureau chief in Bangkok to get on the first flight to the Thai capital to cover the developments.

A Singaporean photographer working for a Western news company also arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning.

The photographer said he had received a phone call from his seniors in New York to fly to Bangkok.

Having covered several intense political incidents throughout Asia, he seemed to go about his job in an unhurried manner.

As for the situation on the ground, he said it was as peaceful as he had thought it would be. He leaves Bangkok tomorrow.

Sopaporn Kurz

 The Nation