"Let's buy them some food and drinks." This has become the latest vogue to hit Thailand, and images of people welcoming the soldiers have certainly helped to soften this coup d'etat. With children wearing soldiers' helmets and people of all ages posing next to them, anyone would have thought it's a military showcase.

What kind of a coup is this?

Whether or not this coup will set back Thailand's democracy remains to be seen, but what the coup has definitely done is open up the discussion about "democracy".

What is a democracy when its leader is actually a despot in disguise? And what is a military coup if the military pledges its allegiance to democracy?

If General Sonthi Boonyaratglin had worn a suit rather than his army fatigues the other day when he gave a press conference, he could have easily been mistaken as the leader of a "democratic" government. If accountability is the key to democracy, then General Sonthi answered all questions posed by the media in a straightforward manner, something unheard of during the Thaksin era.

And while media censorship of any kind is abhorrent, the press was relatively free to report what happened the day after the coup d'etat. If it were a coup in the commonly understood sense of that term, much tighter controls would have been placed on the press.

Of course, the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) must allow freedom of expression both among the media and the public as soon as possible. The ban preventing television programmes from displaying text messages from their viewers on screen or fielding calls from the public does not prevent people from getting and exchanging information in other ways. Besides that fact, such a ban would only serve to undermine the public's support for the coup.

Furthermore, the CDRM has pledged that it would not hold on to power and that it would continue democratic reforms under His Majesty the King. Thaksin, a so-called democratic leader, showed time and again that he would do anything he could just to cling to power. Even the fact that he had created such a wedge in society didn't provide him with enough of an impetus to step down for "the good of the country".

But are we to believe that the CDRM will keep its promise? Time will tell, but they must realise that the stakes are high and they have much to lose. A Suan Dusit poll showed that 84 per cent of Thais support the coup, so if they do anything other than what is expected of them, the tide would definitely turn against them.

Would Thais have turned to any possible alternative to break from the political deadlock under Thaksin, even if it meant military intervention? Why wasn't Thaksin removed through democratic means?

While elections are a pillar of democracy, in the Thai context democracy differs from what it should be in principle. As long as there is an information disparity among people living in different regions of the country, as long as vote buying is rampant and as long as anyone with enough power and money can stay above the law, true democracy does not exist.

When all actions and traditional mechanisms fail to bring down a tyrant, other "alternatives" might be the answer. What other democratic means were left that would have convinced such an immoral and controversial leader to step down?

If there had been no coup and an election were held, it's widely agreed upon as to who would win. So Thailand would continue to be a very divided society, demonstrations would be held and clashes between the two camps would be inevitable.

The best result of all of this will be the initiation of investigations into corruption. Had the coup not taken place, the corrupt would likely never have been punished. That's why anticipation is really high for Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka's soon-to-be-released report on the CTX investigation. What's even better is the fact that reports on other cases will follow suit.

The coup should serve as a warning signal to any future leaders who might have been led to believe that Thaksin and others like him are invincible.

As for the coup leaders, they must realise that a coup accepted by the public like this one is certainly not easy to pull off and that this does not mean that any future coups would be similarly welcomed.

Basically, the public has chosen between the lesser of two evils, and hopefully things will turn out for the best.

Veenarat Laohapakakul