Thaksin and the Red Shirts

Over a period of three weeks the Red Shirts, followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the convicted former Prime Minister held rallies in Bangkok aimed at ousting the present incumbent of the post Mr Abhisit. They moved onto Pattaya and forced the cancellation of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit by storming the venue holding it. Spurred on by this "victory" they returned to Bangkok and demonstrated threateningly around parts of the city. The military overpowered them on 13^th April and the next day, the leaders gave up. These people were stirred on by Thaksin a thief guilty of robbing the Thai economy for his own ends. He bribed the poor with a few Baht so they would vote for him. Many of these people have received little or no education and probably have no real understanding of politics. The educated middle class in the cities saw through Thaksin and the man fled with suitcases full of money. He flew to the UK in a Russian jet, where he bought himself Manchester City FC.

Here is a recent political timeline

2006:
Following an election in April which left Thaksin just short of an overall majority despite bribing the poor with cash to vote for him, a court later nullified the result, the following events occurred.
On 19^th September 2006, the Military staged a coup while Thaksin was away at the United Nations. He went into exile in London and used money he had made by suspicious means to buy Manchester City football club. 12 days later, a former army commander-in-chief Surayud Chulanont was sworn in as interim prime minister.

2007:

30^th May and Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party was dissolved for breaking election laws. He and 110 senior party members were banned from politics for five years.
20^th August , voters endorse a new, military-drafted constitution, the 18th in 75 years.
23^rd December the pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP) failed to get an overall majority in a general election.

2008:

28^th January, the PPP leader Samak Sundaravej elected prime minister.
25^th May and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) otherwise referred to as the "yellow shirts" staged street protests to overthrow the "Thaksin puppet government."
31^st July, Thaksin's wife Potjaman was given a three-year jail term for tax fraud.
11^th August saw Thaksin and his wife skippng bail and escaping to London.
26^th August, thousands of PAD protesters stormed Government House in an attempt to get rid of Samak.
Soon after on 2^nd September Samak declares a state of emergency in Bangkok when one person was killed and 45 injured in clashes. One week later he was found guilty of violating constitution by hosting TV cooking shows while in office and forced to quit.
17^th September, Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law was elected prime minister by parliament.
21^st October sees the Supreme Court sentencing Thaksin to two years in jail in his abcence for breaking a conflict-of-interest law.
Bangkok's main airport was taken over by PAD protesters on 25^th November halting all flights and stranding 250,000 foreign visitors.
On the 2^nd December the Constitutional Court disbanded the PPP and banned Somchai from politics for five years. PAD protesters ended their blockade of Bangkok's two airports the following day.
15^th Dec - Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, an Oxford-educated economist, became the third prime minister in as many months. About 200 red-shirted demonstrators block access to parliament, accusing him of being a stooge of the military.

2009:
The following is an article from the Bangkok Post on 14^th April 2009
How the red-shirt protest developed and ended

March 26: Thousands of Thaksin supporters in trademark red shirts begin rallying in Bangkok, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his government to resign and allow fresh elections.
They are spurred on by Thaksin Shinawatra, who starts a series of almost nightly addresses to the crowd by telephone and video link.
 
March 27: Thaksin accuses Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, privy councillors Surayud Chulanond and Charnchai Likitjitta of being behind the 2006 military coup that toppled him.

March 28: General Surayud rejects Thaksin's claim, saying privy councillors are not involved in politics.

April 2: Red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan says a mass rally planned for April 8 is aimed at pressuring Mr Abhisit, General Prem and the privy councillors to resign.

April 3: Thaksin refuses an invitation by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban to negotiate with the government, and calls on his supporters to come out in force for a mass rally on April 8.

April 7: Mr Abhisit's car is attacked by red-shirts in Pattaya as he heads back to Bangkok after a cabinet meeting. Thaksin's three children and ex-wife leave Thailand.
 
April 8: More than 30,000 red-shirts rally at Government House, their main protest site.

April 9: Taxi drivers block main roads and Victory Monument, bringing the city to a halt. Mr Abhisit vows tough action against red-shirts who break the law, but no action is taken.

April 10: Thaksin's supporters, already spread out across Bangkok, launch a separate protest in the beach resort of Pattaya, where 16 Asian leaders are to meet for a major Asean-sponsored summit, with Asean chairman Thailand as the host.

April 11: Thousands of protesters storm the venue of the summit, forcing its cancellation. A state of emergency is declared as foreign leaders are evacuated - some by helicopter from the hotel roof.

April 12: A state of emergency is declared in Bangkok and surrounding areas as new anti-government demonstrations spring up. Pattaya protest leader Arisman Pongruangrong arrested in Bangkok. About 50 protesters force their way into the Interior Ministry grounds while Mr Abhisit is inside. He escapes. Thaksin says he will lead an uprising if there is a coup.

April 13: Army cracks down on protesters in Bangkok. Two people die and 123 treated for injuries in army assaults on groups of protesters and several ugly confrontations between red shirts and local people who formed neighbourhood militias.

April 14: Thousands of demonstrators who had retreated to their main camp outside Government House agree to disperse in the face of an overwhelming military operation to close down days of protests.

Government extends the three-day Songkran holiday for two more days.

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Recently, following the violent clashes in the streets of Bangkok, which left two innocent people dead, killed by the UDD, redshirts, the government cancelled Thaksin's passport and he left Dubai, where he had been staying, for an undisclosed destination in Africa. Nicaragua has stated that following an earlier meeting between Thaksin and the Nicaraguan president, it has issued the fugitive with a diplomatic passport.

The incumbent Prime Minister Mr Abhisit, seems a good man and we can only hope that he can bring the two sides together for discussions on the future of democracy in Thailand. The Thai people are wonderful and very resilient, this is the "Land of Smiles".