"He also noted that General [[Saprang Kalayanamitr]], commander of the Third Army, claimed that planning for the coup had begun 7 months in advance, thus contradicting claims that the coup was executed as a reactive pre-emptive strike against violence and Sonthi's who had said "hundreds of thousands" of pro- and anti-Thaksin supporters planned to descend on Bangkok.General Sonthi later said in an interview that the coup was originally planned for 20 September, to coincide with a major anti-Thaksin rally also planned for that day.