BANGKOK, Thailand -- For many in Thailand, it was a clash between two images: an arrogant prime minister who hates to lose and a humble king who always wins.

Simply by endorsing the general who has seized power, revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 78, has essentially given his blessing to the bloodless Tuesday night coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The monarch has shown that, despite age, frailty and constitutional powerlessness, he remains the most powerful man in Thailand.

The coup is also a response to the Islamic insurgency raging in southern Thailand, and public displeasure with Mr. Thaksin's strong-arm tactics. Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, the army commander who led the coup, had advocated a peaceful solution. As a Muslim, he was long seen as a force for healing whose hands were tied by Mr. Thaksin's policies.

It remains unclear what role, if any, the king played in removing Mr. Thaksin. What is clear, however, is the chain of events that led to Mr. Thaksin's ouster, a series of missteps that prompted accusations he was challenging the king's authority, an unpardonable act by Thai standards.

Mr. Thaksin had taken a defiant stance under mounting pressure from street protests and demands for him to resign amid allegations of corruption, election violations and mishandling the southern insurgency.

In April, the king made a rare TV appearance, prodding the courts to intervene to resolve a political deadlock that had left the kingdom with a caretaker government and no working legislature.

The judges duly ruled, paving the way for new elections. But Mr. Thaksin angered many by refusing to bow out.

"The anti-Thaksin forces in the top levels of government and, perhaps, in the palace, realized that Thaksin could still be prime minister after the new election and there was no way out, and they were fed up," said Paul Handley, author of "The King Never Smiles," a biography that portrays King Bhumibol as a major player in Thai political developments over the decades.

Many say the palace was infuriated by Mr. Thaksin's apparent attempt to steal the spotlight during the lavish June celebrations of King Bhumibol's 60 years on the throne. By greeting visiting royals before they got to meet the Thai royal family, Mr. Thaksin, 57, was seen as having committed a crowning and highly public act of insolence.

Then there was the insurgency, which has killed more than 1,700 people in the past two years.

Mr. Thaksin flooded the south, the only Muslim-dominated area of the Buddhist country, with 20,000 troops and imposed a state of emergency that empowered authorities to detain suspects without charge, tap telephones, ban public gatherings and suppress publications deemed inflammatory.

Mr. Thaksin was also accused of stifling Thai media, once regarded as among the freest in Asia, and of allowing his cronies to reap enormous gains from corrupt policies.

Chief among Mr. Thaksin's flaws, in the eyes of the palace and many Thais, was his personality. Critics called him self-centered and arrogant. The tycoon-turned-politician proved to be ambitious, conservative and strong-willed, refusing to correct himself when his policies backfired, particularly regarding the insurgency.