BEST. COUP. EVER.

That seemed to be the attitude among Thais and foreigners following Tuesday’s bloodless coup, in which the military, led by General Sondi Boonyaratkalin, deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. “Tanks in the streets of Bangkok!” screamed headlines, but “Expats in the bars of Patpong!” was perhaps more apt.

“Thais showered soldiers with flowers [and] posed for photo-ops with tanks,” said the Washington Post. Architect Chanwit Rungruengpol told the Bangkok Post the coup was “a blessing” for the country. The Nation opined, “Nobody who loves democracy will be sorry to see [Thaksin] gone.” And an exiled Thai Muslim leader said General Sondi—the first-ever Muslim army chief—was just the man to solve the problems in the country’s restive south.

Tourists and expats stoically carried on carousing and, well, whatever else visitors to Bangkok do. Blogger Chieng Fa announced, “First and foremost, if you had plans to visit Thailand in the near future, there is absolutely no reason to cancel them.” Doodee’s Thailand took a cab ride past Soi Cowboy, an infamous strip of girlie bars, and noted, “It appeared to be open for business as usual.” Bangkok Recorder’s list of upcoming events was unchanged. And Morally Diminished, TMM’s favorite despicable sex blogger, hailed the military’s takeover of the airwaves with these immortal words: “Excellent, they’ve changed the propaganda reader to a chick.”

There were, of course, a few party-poopers who just couldn’t see the bright side of indefinite rule by well-armed forces with no public accountability. The White House said it was “disappointed” in the behavior of the Thai military and would not only ground it for a month but also take away its keys to the Escalade; from now on, Bangkok can drive the old Civic. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s minister of defense and schadenfreude, Tea Banh, snickered, “There will never be such a coup in Cambodia because we do not have such deep social rifts as in Thailand.”

But Seksan Plengsri, a motorcycle taxi driver and crybaby, felt sorry for Thaksin. “I don’t know what is happening to Thailand,” he told the Bangkok Post, his voice quivering. “I can’t say anything at all.”

The real person to feel sorry for, however, was Nicolas Cage, who had been shooting his latest film, “Bangkok Dangerous,” in the capital. When he heard the news of the coup, he fled Thailand on a private jet faster than you can say, “Con Air.” (Uganda’s vice president was not so lucky.)

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