One of the key men behind the coup was General Saphrang Kalayanamitr, assistant commander of the Royal Thai Army and former commander of the Third Army Division. The division was among the very first to move its troops to Bangkok on the eve of September 19.

A day before the coup was to take place, a secret order was passed to have the division on alert. Consequently, the First Cavalry in Phetchabun province placed all its troops and vehicles in stand-by mode, which included round-the-clock replacement of engine oil in armoured vehicles.

This was due to the direct line of communication between Saphrang and his successor as Third Army Division commander, Maj-General Wannathip Wongwai. What's more, Colonel Vichaet Sukpongpisith, deputy commander of the division, is also known as a loyal follower of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda.

Saphrang usually works in Chiang Mai and Phitsanulok, but was reportedly seen at the cavalry unit in Phetchabun two days prior to the coup. He confided after the coup that he had time and again sent signals to some politicians and bureaucrats for two to three months in the hope that they would have a change of heart, but to no avail. As the weeks turned to months, he believed the political situation was only getting worse.

Saphrang also admitted that the coup-makers had been planning the power seizure for seven to eight months and that the coup was not a hastily drawn-up plan of only a day of two.

As the Kingdom sank into deeper division and conflict, officers close to the ruling elite were promoted to protect the premier's power base while those who weren't were reassigned to inactive posts.

Looking back, a series of public speeches by Saphrang carried clear warnings from the general to Thaksin Shinawatra's regime.

It's not usual for an Army general to lecture students at universities about national crises. But that was what Saphrang did weeks before the coup, and it was directed straight at the Thaksin regime.

"... As for the government, it should try to strengthen the Army ... and the best policy to achieve this is to be honest. But these days Thai politics is still substandard, without a proper leader ...", Saphrang said in one such speech before the coup.

The general also reiterated that the Third Army Division was the army of His Majesty the King and declared that he would stand on the side of "good people".

"We're professional soldiers, soldiers in the service of His Majesty the King, and I would like to stress that students shouldn't fall prey to [political] manipulation. Be not afraid of influential people who merely want to preserve themselves," he told university students.

A week later, on July 25, Saphrang told Village Scouts and visitors offering him moral support at Naraesuan Army Compound that "it appears that the country is weakening like never before. In the past we fought with communists, enemies whose identity we knew as well as where they came from. However, we now have to fight an internal enemy who stems from evilness, who is born out of greed, selfishness and lack of ethics and morality. Bad people congregate but good people are hardly united."

He then went on to indirectly declare war on the Thaksin administration. "... There is still a powerful political group who shamelessly twist their tongues to oppose His Majesty's command ... It's pretty clear they're definitely not Thai people. They have evil hearts deserving the condemnation of all Thai people ... So I would like to announce that ... I will fight with no fear when confronting danger. We shall be brave and be glad to fight ... and if any groups of people are being threatened from dark forces, do feel free to use our camp as shelter, be it day or night. Tell us who is threatening, as the Army is ready to swiftly deal with it."

Saphrang then added a prophetic warning, saying that whoever was against the country and the King would bleed: "It won't be my blood, but those of bad people."