The US today said it is monitoring the situation in Thailand and asked the country's military which has imposed martial law to honour its commitment to making this a temporary action and not undermine democratic institutions.
"We are monitoring events and are aware of reports that Thailand's army has declared martial law," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
The United States, he said, remains very concerned about the deepening political crisis there and urges all parties to respect democratic principles, including respect for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
"We expect the army to honour its commitment to make this a temporary action to prevent violence and not to undermine democratic institutions," he said.
The US firmly believes that all parties much exercise restraint and work together to resolve differences through peaceful dialogue to find a way forward. This development underscores the need for elections to determine the will of the Thai people, Carney said.
Responding to questions, he said the government remains in place.
"There is a caretaker government or a caretaker prime minister, as I understand it. And the Thai military, which has been reported to have declared martial law, has also made a commitment to make this a temporary action and not to undermine the country's democratic institutions. And we expect the army to honour that commitment," he said.
Earlier, the US had said that it remains "very concerned" about the declaration of martial law in Thailand.
"We are aware of reports that Thailand's army has declared martial law and are monitoring developments closely," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement.
"We remain very concerned about the deepening political crisis in Thailand and urge all parties to respect democratic principles, including respect for freedom of speech," she said.
Thailand's military in a surprise pre-dawn move today declared martial law to maintain order after six months of anti-government protests that left the country paralysed, but denied it had staged a coup even as the interim premier announced fresh elections on August 3.
