Beginning in 2008, there was worsening conflict between the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the People's Power Party (PPP) governments of Prime Ministers Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat. It was a continuation of the 2005–2006 political crisis, when PAD protested against the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. PAD followers usually dressed in yellow, yellow being the royal color of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and were called "yellow shirts". National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) followers, known as supporters of the deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, dressed in red and were widely called "red shirts".
History
+ Timeline of key events 200829 Jan Samak Sundaravej forms a coalition government and becomes prime minister after winning the majority of seats in the 2007 general elections. 28 Feb Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra returns to Thailand after his political allies win new elections and formed a coalition government. He and his wife face charges of corruption. 28 Mar PAD regroups, threatening to resume protests against Thaksin. 25 May PAD demonstrates at Democracy Monument, demanding Samak's resignation, and later occupies Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge. 27 Jun Samak's government survives no-confidence motion in parliament. 1 Aug Train and air transport are disrupted by PAD, although services would resume a few days later and state enterprise unions would not follow up on their threat to disrupt services. 11 Aug Thaksin and his (then) wife, Potjaman Na Pombejra, skip bail and flee to the UK two weeks after she was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud. 26 Aug PAD protesters invade Government House, three ministries, and headquarters of the NBT. Little effort is made to remove the protesters from Government House, although minor clashes between police and protesters are seen. 2 Sep Anti-PAD protesters clash with PAD, leaving one dead and 43 injured. A state of emergency is declared in Bangkok. It would last until 14 September. 9 Sep The Constitutional Court finds Samak guilty of conflict of interest, terminating his premiership. 17 Sep Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, is ratified by the National Assembly and becomes prime minister. He is rejected by PAD for being Thaksin's nominee. 29 Sep Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh begins negotiations with PAD leaders. 4–5 Oct PAD leaders Chaiwat Sinsuwongse and Chamlong Srimuang are arrested by police on insurrection charges filed shortly after the invasion of Government House in August. 6 Oct PAD protesters rally at parliament, attempting to block a parliament session in which Prime Minister Somchai is to seek approval of policies. Police attempt to disperse protesters using tear gas. Somchai is forced to cross a fence to exit, while members of parliament are stranded in the building for many hours. Intermittent clashes leave two dead and over 300 injured, including 20 policemen. Military troops are deployed to help control the situation. 9 Oct An appeals court withdraws insurrection charges against PAD leaders and releases Chamlong and Chaiwat on bail. The following day, the remaining PAD leaders turn themselves in to police and are released on bail. 21 Oct The supreme court finds Thaksin guilty in a land purchase conflict of interest case, and sentences him to two years in prison. 8 Nov The UK government, where Thaksin has resided, revokes the visas of Thaksin and his (then) wife, Potjaman Na Pombejra, while the couple were travelling in China. 25 Nov PAD blockades Don Mueang, where the government had temporary offices, and Suvarnabhumi International Airports, leaving thousands of tourists stranded. Several explosions and clashes occur in the following days. 2 Dec After weeks of opposition-led protests, the Constitutional Court of Thailand dissolves the governing People's Power Party and two coalition member parties and bans leaders of the parties, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, from politics for five years. Wongsawat promptly resigns. The PPP won the December 2007 general election. Though it became the largest party in the House, it did not gain an absolute majority. PPP became the leading party when five other smaller parties, previously allies of Thaksin Shinawatra, agreed to join the coalition government under Samak Sundaravej.
The coalition government vowed to amend the 2007 constitution which they called undemocratic, prompting PAD to resume protests against the constitutional amendment plan after having suspended its movement after the 2006 coup. PAD charged that the amendment was aimed at revoking charges against Thaksin and election fraud charges by PPP executive members. The Samak government suspended its amendment plan, yet PAD vowed to continue their protest, calling for Samak Sundaravej's resignation, noting that during his election campaign, he had declared himself a nominee of Thaksin. Tensions escalated when PAD seized Government House.
Samak was forced to resign in September after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of being an employee of a television cooking program after he became the prime minister. PPP deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat, vice president of PPP and a brother-in-law of Thaksin, became the new prime minister. This change prompted continued PAD protests. The protests led to violent clashes between the police, PAD, and anti-PAD protesters on 7 October as the government aimed to disperse them from blocking the entrances of the House. A PAD protester was killed by a grenade near the premier's office and a member of the PAD security forces was killed when his car exploded. Many protesters were also injured.
As PAD was attacked, it stepped up its protests by seizing the government's temporary offices at Don Mueang Airport, and the seizure and closure of Suvarnabhumi Airport after the arrest of Chamlong Srimuang, one of its leaders. The sieges ended in December when the Constitutional Court dissolved the PPP and banned its executive board from political office after finding it guilty of election fraud. The Constitutional Court dissolved two coalition partners of the PPP on similar charges, which broke the coalition apart. Prime minister Somchai resigned.
It is alleged that the army then urged MPs of a former PPP faction, the Friends of Newin Group, and MPs of the former PPP coalition partners to cross the aisle and form a coalition with the Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. After days of negotiations, Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party, was voted in by a margin of 235 in favor, 198 against.
The People's Alliance for Democracy opposed to what it called the "Thaksin system", which is seen by some as the Thaksin' "autocracy", his domination of independent supervisory institutions and violations of human rights and the freedom of the press. It began the mass protest against Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 after the removal of the critical TV program of Sondhi Limthongkul. In 2008, PAD accused Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat of being proxies for Thaksin. Samak had announced that he was Thaksin's nominee during his election campaign, Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law, and several new Pheu Thai Party members are former TRT/PPP members. PAD was opposed to all attempts to reform the constitution in ways that would allow politicians banned from political office to re-enter politics, and to revoking the charges against Thaksin. PAD has also called for "new politics", a "new age of politics, free from the corrupted politicians". In May 2009, PAD founded its party, the New Politics Party. One of the PAD's major aims was to oppose what it considered the anti-monarchy movement, supposedly among some Thaksin supporters. PAD promoted the role of the king as the guard of the all people's power against the "corrupted politician". That is why PAD uses yellow, Rama IX's symbolic birthday colour, Monday, as its brand. Yet its ideology was blasted by some critics as "anti-democratic".
The National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) was the group consisting mainly of social activists, scholars, and Thaksin supporters who opposed the 2006 coup deposing Thaksin Shinawatra. It believed that the coup was supported by powerful persons, the "elites" or "nobles", targeting Prem Tinsulanonda, head of the privy council. The UDD aimed to topple the amatayathipatai (government run by traditional elites, nobles, and the bureaucratic polity). In the April 2009 protest, its aims were the immediate resignation of the prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and members of the privy council, Prem Tinsulanonda and Surayud Chulanont, as well as new elections. It also demanded that charges be brought against PAD for the 2008 airport seizures and unrest. Several members of parliament in the Pheu Thai Party were vocal in their support of UDD, as well as of Thaksin Shinawatra himself.
Origins of the crisis The 2008 crisis had its roots in the 2005–2006 Thai political crisis, the 2005 election and 2006 elections, the 2006 coup, and the 2007 general election.
Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) won a landslide victory in the 2001 election, the first elections held under the Thai Constitution of 1997. Thaksin's grassroots economic policies helped reduce poverty and provided universal health care, making him hugely popular in rural Thailand. His drug policies were effective at reducing drug use but were attacked for the large number of extrajudicial executions that resulted. He was accused of conflicts of interest due to his family's continued holdings in Shin Corporation, the telecoms business that he founded prior to becoming Premier. Despite this, he became the first politician in Thai history to finish his term. Thaksin's re-election in 2005 election had the highest voter turnout in Thai history.Pongsudhirak Thitinan, "Victory places Thaksin at crossroads", Bangkok Post, 9 February 2005Aurel Croissant and Daniel J. Pojar, Jr., Quo Vadis Thailand? Thai Politics after the 2005 Parliamentary Election , Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue 6 (June 2005)
Media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul had been a staunch supporter of Thaksin until major losses at state-owned Krung Thai Bank caused CEO Viroj Nualkhair to be fired. Viroj was Sondhi's former banker and had forgiven Sondhi for billions in bad personal debts. Sondhi's levied public criticisms of Thaksin on his TV show and his media outlets, the Manager Daily newspaper and ASTV.
Sondhi's People's Alliance for Democracy soon gathered supporters among Dhammayuttika Nikaya disciples of Luang Ta Maha Bua, prominent socialites and members of the Thai royal family who claimed that Thaksin frequently insulted King Bhumibol Adulyadej, several state-enterprise unions who were against Thaksin's state-enterprise privatization plans, and various factions in the Royal Thai Army who claimed that Thaksin promoted only those who were loyal to him. The movement gained in popularity after Thaksin's family sold their share in Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings while making use of a regulation that exempted individuals from paying capital gains tax. The PAD led protests demanding that Thaksin pay additional taxes, despite the SEC and the Revenue Department saying that no wrong had been done.
The protests escalated. In February 2006, Army Commander Sonthi Boonyaratglin started secretly planning for a military coup, despite regular denials.The Nation, The persistent myth of the 'good' coup , 2 October 2006กรุงเทพธุรกิจ, พล.ท.สพรั่ง กัลยาณมิตร"วางแผนปฏิรูปการปกครองมาแล้ว 7–8 เดือน", 24 September 2006Thanapol Eawsakul, "The Coup for Democracy with the King as Head of State", Fa Dieo Kan special issue, 2007 On 14 July 2006, Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda addressed graduating cadets of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, telling them that the Thai military must obey the orders of the King – not the Government.