Bangkok Red

Military coup in 2006 ousted then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinowarta. Streets of Bangkok became the ground for various color-coded political supporters to protest demanding change of the government.  

Deep political and social divide started to surface when the "yellow shirts" took streets of Bangkok in their bid to topple the government. They stormed the government house, occupied it for several months while as show of strength they stormed and shot down two international airports demanding the change of the government which was dominated by pro-Thaksin party. 

The opponents of Mr Thaksin call themselves the Peoples' Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and wear yellow shirts.“Yellow Shirts” are a loose grouping of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class, led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul and Chamlong Srimuang, a former general. Amid the turmoil of the airport blockade in December 2008, a Constitutional Court ruled that the then ruling pro-Thaksin party was guilty of electoral fraud and barred its leaders from politics for five years. 

Following these events the parliament with a slight margin of votes elected as a Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Democrat Party. 

One year later this triggered United Front for Democracy or better known as the "red shirts" to take streets of Bangkok using similar protest tactics as yellow shirts, occupying the main commercial and financial district for several months in their bid to oust Abhisit's governemnt, which by red shirts is regarded to have come to power without popular vote. 

Division in Thai society, police and the army was evident as the situation became more volatile during the April 2010.  

Many of the “Red Shirt” protesters come from Thailand's rural north and northeast. They benefited from the populist policies Mr Thaksin framed during his five years in power - such as on health and education - and many of them want him back. 

After several months of struggle and the pressure by the governemnt to convince the Military and the Police to act and disburse demonstrators, on May the 14th the crack down started. The crack down on red shirt protestors left some 90 people dead while more than one thousand injured, among killed were two foreign journalists. 

Thailand is trying to heal deep society divide that these protests left behind.