News of Thailand’s military coup has drawn the attention of neighboring Burma-especially dissidents and businessmen-sources in Rangoon said.

A week after Thailand’s army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin visited Burma, his troops staged a coup overthrowing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was in New York at the UN General Assembly.

While people in Rangoon follow recent developments on international news channels such as CNN and BBC, Thais must rely on local-in some cases, military-controlled television stations. Some international news channels have reportedly been blocked in Thailand.

Some Burmese dissidents did not welcome military rule-however briefly-in neighboring Thailand. “Political problems should only be solved with political means,” Min Ko Naing, a prominent former student leader, told The Irrawaddy by telephone on Wednesday.

Others were more supportive of the coup, arguing that Thailand’s Thaksin-led government had been very close to Burma’s military leaders.

Thailand is Burma’s third most important investment and trade partner, with an annual US $1.26 billion in Thai exports to Burma. In 2003, Shin Corp, the telecoms company until recently owned by Thaksin’s family, signed a deal with Bagan Cybertech, the internet service provider run by the son of the junta’s sacked prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt.

One activist who requested anonymity said that Thaksin has consistently defended Burma’s military leaders whenever they were attacked by the international community and should be considered an “undemocratic” leader.

Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets of Bangkok in early 2006 to demand that Thaksin resign because of allegations of corruption, abuse of power, and his mishandling of the southern Muslim insurgency.

Thai Army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led Tuesday night’s coup, said in a televised address on Wednesday that the move was necessary to solve an ongoing conflict and bring the country back to normalcy. He added: “We would like to reaffirm that we don’t have any intention to rule the country and will return power to the Thai people as soon as possible.”

Sonthi told diplomats in a press conference this afternoon that his group, called the Democratic Reform Council, will look for a new civilian prime minister within two weeks. Earlier, the group declared martial law in Thailand, dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution. Sonthi said the new cabinet and parliament will draft a new constitution within one year.

All official access points between the Thai-Burmese border were closed on Wednesday morning, leading some traders in border towns such as Mae Sot and Mae Sai to suggest that recent events could have a heavy impact on people in Burma, many of whom rely on the steady influx of Thai commodities into Burma.