On May 19, 2010, the Thai Army moved in on Ratchaprasong Intersection, a major commercial district in downtown Bangkok that had been occupied by Redshirt protestors since March. By the end of the day, 52 people stood dead since the crackdown began on May 14, one of Asia's largest shopping malls had partially burned down, and thousands of protestors, mostly farmers from the Thai countryside, returned home in despair. Although order had been restored, it was clear to all sides that Thailand, which had only a short time before been considered a bastion of stability and democracy in Southeast Asia, was teetering on precariously flimsy foundations.
2006 Coup
Thai politics took a dramatic turn on September 19, 2006, when Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was suddenly disposed in a bloodless military coup while he was abroad at a United Nations summit in New York. As Thaksin declared a state of emergency from New York, commandoes seized his house and tanks were deployed throughout the city. In only a few hours, Bangkok was under complete military control. Soldiers were seen with yellow ribbons and flags, symbols of loyalty to the universally revered King Bhumibo of Thailand.
The next day, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin announced the intentions of the coup on Thai television. He explained that years of corruption and nepotism in Bangkok had forced the military to take action. The constitution was thereby suspended, as was the senate, the house of representatives, and the constitutional court. Furthermore, he claimed that he had the support of the king. It was later announced that democracy would be restored to the country in one year. Soon afterward the military formed the "Council for National Security," which was essentially a military junta.
General Election of 2007 and 2008 Political Crisis
Following the ratification of a new constitution in August 2007, general elections were held on December 23, 2007. The two main political parties were the Democratic Party, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, and the People's Power Party (PPP), led by Samak Sundaravej, with the former party supported by the military junta and the latter supported by the former members of Thaksin's political party Thai Rak Thai (which had been banned earlier that year). Despite the junta's efforts to thwart the PPP, it won a majority of seats in government. Samak assumed the office of prime minister on January 29, 2008. In response, People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), an anti-Thaksin organization otherwise known as the Yellowshirts that disbanded itself in the wake of the 2006 coup, regrouped in March and demanded Samak's resignation. Protests, which often led to violent clashes with anti-PAD demonstrators, continued for the rest of the year, culminating in the PAD's week-long sit-in at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which put an effective stop on all air-travel to and from Bangkok.
While the protestors were at work, the ruling PPP party failed to sway the courts to side in its favor. Thaksin, who had been residing in the United Kingdom following the coup (with a brief return to Thailand following the PPP's election victory), was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison on corruption charges. The PPP was dissolved by the Constitutional Court on December 2, and Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat (Thaksin's brother-in-law who had assumed on office on September 17) was banned from politics. Democratic Party leader Abhisit assumed office on December 17, 2008.
Rise of the Redshirts
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), otherwise known as the Redshirts, rose in full force following the victory Democratic Party. Having originally been formed in 2006 in the aftermath of the coup, the UDD took to the streets to protest the government of Abhisit. April 9, 2009 saw 100,000 Redshirts protest at and around Bangkok's Royal Plaza, and on April 11 Redshirts disrupted an ASEAN summit being held in Pattaya, forcing the event to be canceled. April 13 saw violent clashes at Bangkok's Victory Square, with both Thai Army soldiers and Redshirt protestors using live ammunition against one another. The protest was broken up by the following day, however, and stability was temporarily restored, but on April 17, PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul narrowly survived an assassination attempt when he was shot at a petrol station.
The Siege at Ratchaprasong Intersection
Tension continued to bubble throughout the rest of 2009, but wouldn't erupt until March 14, 2010 when Redshirt protestors called for new elections at a protest on Phan Fah bridge in Bangkok. The protestors held their ground for several weeks, and started shifting their position to Ratchaprasong Intersection in central Bangkok. Abhisit declared a state of emergency on April 8, and on April 10 government forces led an unsuccessful crackdown on Phan Fah bridge that resulted in 24 deaths. Soon afterward, the Redshirts consolidated their supporters at Ratchaprasong Intersection. Barbed wire barricades with mounted wooden spears and petrol-doused tires stood at all of the intersection's entrances, and guards armed with Molotov cocktails kept watch as the Thai Army held their ground a few blocks away. Despite the ominous circumstances, however, the atmosphere at the camp remained festive and even took on the air of a rock concert at times, with musicians performing on a central stage.
Meanwhile, shadowy militants dubbed "the men in black" committed acts of violence around the city, including random grenade attacks and attempted bombings of infrastructure. These men were recorded on video at the April 10 crackdown armed with M16s and grenade launchers shooting at government troops. Although the identities of these militants were never identified with certainty, it is widely believed that they are ex-Thai special forces employed by Thaksin as mercenaries.
Final Crackdown
On May 19, the Thai Army decided that enough was enough. Using their vastly superior firepower, APCs crashed through the barricades to disperse the protestors as snipers took positions around the encampment. Although the resulting violence caused 52 deaths and numerous injuries, the protest leaders quickly surrendered and most of the thousands of protestors dispersed without a fight. Nonetheless, small pockets of violence emerged around the city, with several banks, CentralWorld shopping mall, one TV station and the stock exchange torched by protestors. Order was mostly restored in Bangkok by the day's end, and the Redshirts ceased their militancy for the time being.
Roots of the Unrest
Both the Yellowshirts and the Redshirts have claimed to be representing the plight of Thai's poor in the face of oligarchic rule by a plutocratic elite. The key difference, however, can be found in the groups' demographics.
The Redshirts' base of support lies with the rural poor, particularly in the north of the country. During the Thaksin years, the government engaged in populist policies that saw increased social support to rural Thai villagers. With the ousting of Thaksin, many of these people perceived the coup as an attempt on the part of Bangkok's elite to increase their power at the expense of poor farmers.
The Yellowshirts' ranks, on the other hand, largely consist of the urban population, including the poor and middle class. While the middle class is frustrated at the corruption of Thaksin (a telecommunications billionaire who has been convicted of using his power to increase his wealth), who they feel is the true robber, the urban poor feel that Thaksin hypocritically ignored their well-being as he tried to woe the rural poor, using methods that many consider amount to bribery.
What is clear is that Thailand suffers from intense corruption that stymies economic development. As a rising regional power, it is natural that the Thai poor feel entitled to the luxuries they see possessed by a rising elite. However, what remains to be sorted out is which leader truly has the interests of the Thai people (most of who are still very impoverished) at heart.
On July 3, 2011, Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra led the pro-Thaksin party Pheu Thai Party to victory at the polls of the nation's general election. Her tenure as prime minister will be an interesting one; what stance will she take on her brother's corruption charges? Will she engage in similarly questionable political methods? And, most importantly, how will she reconcile the needs and hopes of the millions of Thais who have found themselves on the opposite sides of the protest lines? As people anticipate the death of the much beloved king who has done much to keep the country from descending into utter chaos, it is of vital importance that Yingluck calms the passions of the nation.
Bennett Murray - Bennett Murray wrote for his first publication in 2006, and has been writing ever since. Murray most recently worked for the Phnom Penh ...
Join the Conversation