Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [13]
To differentiate themselves, the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) began to wear red, and soon thereafter became known colloquially as the ‘red shirts’. To add to the political rainbow, during the riots of April 2009 that disrupted an ASEAN summit in Pattaya, a blue-shirted faction emerged, apparently aligned with a former Thaksin ally and allegedly sponsored by the Ministry of the Interior. And during the subsequent political crisis of 2010, a 'no colour' group of peace activists and a 'black shirt' faction, believed to consist of rogue elements of the Thai military, also emerged.
Because of the potential political associations, many have become wary about sporting the divisive colours, and on Rama IX’s birthday in 2009, pink seemingly became the new yellow when Thais wore the colour as a nod to a previous occasion when the king safely emerged from a lengthy hospital visit wearing a bright pink blazer.
* * *
Rife with drama, Samak’s tenure as prime minister was seemingly over as soon as it began when in September 2008, after fewer than nine months in office, the Thai Supreme Court unanimously ruled that his paid appearances as the host of a TV cookery program constituted a conflict of interest, forcing him to step down. That Samak had allegedly earned only 80,000B (about US$2,400) from hosting the program was an indicator of the partiality of the Supreme Court; in the remaining months of 2008, Samak was succeeded by three prime ministers.
The PAD managed to occupy Government House for nearly four months, yet despite the arrest of its key leader, Chamlong Srimuang, PAD’s boldest act was yet to come. On 25 November, hundreds of armed PAD protesters stormed Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang Airports, entering the passenger terminals and seizing control of the control towers. Thousands of additional PAD sympathisers eventually flooded Suvarnabhumi, leading to the cancellation of all flights and leaving as many as 230,000 domestic and international passengers stranded. The stand off lasted until 2 December, when the Supreme Court wielded its muscle yet again in order to ban Samak’s successor, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics and ordered his political party and two coalition parties dissolved. PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul declared, ‘We have won a victory and achieved our aims.’
If the PAD’s aim was to derail Thailand’s economy, it succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations. The airport seige took place during peak tourist season and the impact wounded the industry profoundly, damaging the country’s reputation and leaving many hotels in Bangkok at single-digit occupancy rates. The Bank of Thailand estimates that the incident cost the country 210 billion baht, and in late 2009, Thai Airways sued then Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and several PAD leaders, claiming that the protests cost the national carrier a loss of 575 million baht.
In addition to financial loss, the events of 2008 also had a significant social cost in that Thailand, a country that had mostly experienced a relatively high level of domestic stability and harmony throughout its modern history, was now effectively polarised between the predominately middle- and upper-class, urban-based PAD and the largely working-class, rural UDD.
In December 2008, after a great deal of political wrangling, a tenuous new coalition was formed, led by Oxford-educated Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party. Despite being young, photogenic, articulate and allegedly untainted by corruption, Abhisit’s perceived association with the PAD did little to placate the UDD.
After 46.37 billion baht (US$1.4 billion) of allegedly illegally gained assets were seized from Thaksin by the Supreme Court in February 2010, another round of protests began. Red Shirts and self-proclaimed prodemocracy activists united to demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stand down.
In April 2010 there were violent