Thailand's military commander ousted the country's prime minister in a bloodless military coup that swept the capital Tuesday night.

With Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra out of the country, tanks circled government headquarters in Bangkok as dozens of soldiers seized control of television stations, declaring a provisional authority pledging loyalty to the king.

Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin said he's taken control of the government, revoked the Constitution and declared martial law.

An announcement on national TV ordered all troops to report to their duty stations.

Meanwhile, retired Lt.-Gen. Prapart Sakuntanak said the seizure would be temporary, and power would soon be "returned to the people."

On Wednesday, Sonthi repeated Prapart's message, saying: "The council has no intention to run the country by ourselves and will return power under the constitutional monarchy to the people as soon as possible."

He was flanked by four other members of the Political Reform Council as he spoke on national television.

While the military cut off news channels such as CNN and the BBC, army television broadcast images of the king and patriotic songs associated with past military coups.

The Associated Press reports that a convoy of four tanks rigged with loudspeakers and sirens rolled through a busy commercial district, warning people to get off the street for their own safety.

Several hundred soldiers, meanwhile, were deployed at government installations and major intersections in Bangkok.

A televised announcement declared that a "Council of Administrative Reform" with King Bhumibol Adulyadej as head of state had seized power in Bangkok and nearby provinces without any resistance.

The prime minister, meanwhile, declared a "severe state of emergency" in a message broadcast on Channel 9 from New York, where he's attending a UN General Assembly meeting.

Thaksin has ordered troops not to "move illegally." He also ordered the transfer of the country's army chief to work in the prime minister's office, effectively suspending him from his military duties.

Government officials said Thaksin planned to return to his country from New York on Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled -- and after cancelling his scheduled speech to the UN. But a later statement didn't specify where Thaksin was going after leaving New York.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Peter MacKay urged a peaceful solution.

"Thailand has made marked progress in terms of respect for human rights and the rule of law, and Canada urges all parties to continue to uphold these values," he said.

"The Canadian embassy in Bangkok is following the situation closely, and consular officials are on duty to assist Canadians as required. We will continue to monitor events as they unfold."

Political crisis

The coup comes as the prime minister is embroiled in a political crisis and the country has been going through a period of political instability all year.

Groups, including people close to King Bhumibol, have been calling for Thaksin to step down amid allegations of corruption and abuse of power.

Thaksin has indicated he may step down as leader after upcoming elections, but said for now he will stay at his party's helm.

He has angered opponents and many Thais by his failure to end separatist violence in the south.

His family's decision in February to sell its controlling stake in one of the country's biggest telecommunications groups, Shin Corp., to Singaporean investors also raised the ire of critics. His family and others netted US$1.9 billion from that sale.

Many Thais have accused the family of insider trading, avoiding taxes and letting loose an important national asset to foreign hands.

Last month, police defused a bomb hidden in a car near Thaksin's residence. An army lieutenant was charged in an alleged plot against the Thai leader, according to officials.

Massive rallies earlier this year forced Thaksin to dissolve Parliament and call for a snap election in April.

The opposition parties boycotted that vote. Three of Thailand's most senior courts later annulled it -- at the instruction of the king -- leaving the country without a working legislature.

New elections are scheduled for Oct. 15 but are likely to be postponed until at least November.

"Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is, in fact, the caretaker prime minister," journalist Dominic Faulder in Bangkok told CTV Newsnet, and "a coup against a caretaker government is rather unusual."

"The next thing we are waiting to see is who will be appointed as a replacement to Thaksin Shinawatra, if that, in fact, transpires? ... The nomination of that person by the military might give some clues as to where the coup came from: from the military itself or from other powerful forces within Thailand."

Bolstered by their widespread support in the country's rural areas, Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party has twice won landslide election victories in 2001 and 2005. They had been expected to win an upcoming vote.

Yesterday, Thaksin spoke of the need to promote democracy in Asia at a New York luncheon at the Council on Foreign Relations.

He said developing democracies struggle in the same way as a "child learning to walk.

"As adults, we must learn to live with the pain and the pangs of democracy, lest we throw out the baby with the bath water," he said.

In Thailand's Muslim-dominated south, separatist rebels have waged a bloody campaign that has left at least 1,700 dead, mostly civilians, since 2004.

People there have complained of rights abuses by soldiers and discrimination by the country's Buddhist majority.

With a report from CTV's Matt McClure files from The Associated Press