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Thailand has a beloved king. The country has had one of the more prosperous economies in Asia. It's a magnet for Western tourists. It's history is largely peaceful. By most measures, Thailand has been very successful, particularly in recent decades.

So why has the country now had a dozen coups, plus many more attempted coups, since it ended centuries of absolute monarchy and became a constitutional monarchy in 1932?

The country is so coup-prone that Wednesday's military takeover marked the second time in eight years the armed forces have ousted a leader from the same family.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was deposed Wednesday, suffered the same fate as her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown in 2006. Both were considered political outsiders and viewed by suspicion by the Thai establishment, including the military.

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Some 2,000 new trains that were meant to help France expand its regional rail network are instead causing headaches and embarrassment, as officials have been forced to explain why the trains aren't compatible with hundreds of station platforms. The new trains are just a few centimeters too wide to fit.

The country's rail operators say they're spending millions of dollars to modify platforms to accommodate the new trains, which cost more than $20 billion. A French newspaper reported on the mix-up Tuesday, saying the platforms were too narrow for the trains to pass through.

The story emerged in Le Canard Enchan, a satirical newspaper that blends humor with investigative pieces. As The Wall Street Journal has reported, the paper is both profitable and only minimally available on the Internet.

The train platform episode is a black eye for a French rail system that's often cited as a success, with fast trains serving a wide network. But officials say there was a disconnect between RFF, France's rail operator, and SNCF, the company that runs its trains, and now some 1,300 platforms must be modified.

France 24 explains:

"The mix-up arose when the RFF transmitted faulty dimensions for its train platforms to the SNCF, which was in charge of ordering trains as part of a broad modernization effort, the Canard Enchan reported."

The Supreme Court on Wednesday put off the execution of Russell Bucklew, a Missouri inmate who has maintained that his rare congenital medical condition would make the lethal injection procedure excessively painful.

Bucklew had been scheduled to be put to death at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for a 1996 murder, but Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito stayed the execution late Tuesday, hours before it was to take place. He would have been the first person to be put to death since a botched execution in Oklahoma last month.

On Wednesday, the justices said that a lower federal court needs to re-examine the case.

NBC News says:

"Bucklew — who murdered a man in front of his kids, kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend, and shot at a cop — contends a rare illness would make a lethal injection excruciating, in violation of the Constitution.

"Bucklew suffers from a medical condition called cavernous hemangioma — which creates large masses in his head and neck.

"He argued that the tumors could prevent the drug from circulating properly, prolonging his death and causing excruciating pain in violation of the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment."

Brothers Charles and David Koch are the subject of the new book Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty. The author, Daniel Schulman, describes the Kochs as having pumped hundreds of millions into remaking the American political landscape, trying to bring their libertarian views into the mainstream.

In addition to backing individual candidates who reflect their views, the Koch brothers have played key roles in the Libertarian Party and in the formation of the Tea Party. Their father, who founded Koch Industries, was also a founding member of the far right group the John Birch Society.

Koch Industries is now the second largest private corporation in the U.S., with $115 billion in annual revenue and a presence in 60 countries. Charles and David are tied in sixth place on the list of the wealthiest men on the planet.

Daniel Schulman is a senior editor in the Washington bureau of Mother Jones, and a founding member of the magazine's investigative journalism team. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how the Kochs have contributed to today's political landscape.