Thai junta appoints two anti-Thaksin men as advisers

[BANGKOK] Thailand's junta has appointed two retired generals with palace connections as advisers, putting powerful establishment figures hostile towards former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra firmly in the ascendant in the country's long-running power struggle.

The junta's team of advisers includes a former defence minister, General Prawit Wongsuwan, and former army chief General Anupong Paochinda. The two men are towering figures in Thailand's military establishment and have close ties to coup leader General Prayuth Chan- ocha. All three are staunch monarchists and helped oust Thaksin, who remains at the heart of the political crisis, in a 2006 coup.

It is not clear what powers the advisers will have, but their appointment suggests little prospect of compromise with the Shinawatra family.