In an interview with Malaysian newspaper The Star, 51-year-old promoter David McLean, a Scot married to a Thai national, explained that as soon as Thaksin Shinawatra’s government fell, he knew his big event was in danger.

“One of our main sponsors was a big alcohol company,” he told the paper, and, as he feared, several weeks after the coup, the new military-installed government announced it would ban alcohol advertising.

Eventually, the interim government reconsidered the ban, but by then it was too late. Riverman Music Group, of which McLean is the co-founder, had already canceled the festival.

Still, McLean is determined to hold the festival next February. He’s done it before. He booked the acts for the two-day Bangkok 100 Rock Festival in February 2006, the most ambitious festival ever held in Thailand’s capital. The concert attracted 42,000 people and featured bands including Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, Maximo Park, and Placebo, whom McLean manages.

In fact, he would like to make the Bangkok Rock Festival the biggest in Asia. He said Bangkok is a “fantastic” city for rock music. “I couldn’t believe there hadn’t been a rock festival in Bangkok” prior to 2006, he said. The location is perfect, because it can draw people from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Europe. McLean said he is talking to about 60 international acts, which will be reduced to eight for the festival.