Yellow shirts and red shirts

Political tensions remained high, however, and, beginning in mid-2008, the yellow shirts began staging mass protests against the Samak government, charging that he was merely a stand-in for the ousted Thaksin. In September the prime minister and his entire cabinet were removed from office by order of a special Constitutional Court, and the parliament elected Somchai Wongsawat, brother-in-law of Thaksin, as prime minister. In October Thaksin, who by then was living in exile, was convicted in absentia on charges of corruption.

Meanwhile, the PAD mobilized thousands of yellow-shirt demonstrators against the selection of Somchai in large-scale protests that became increasingly violent. The country’s two major airports in Bangkok were swamped, forcing temporary closure of both facilities. In response to the unrest, the army called for new elections and the dissolution of the parliament. The prime minister rejected the request, and on December 2 he, like his predecessor, was removed from office by the Constitutional Court, and his party was dissolved. Within two weeks, Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the opposition Democrat Party, was chosen by a special parliamentary vote to become the new prime minister—the fifth in a period of just over two years.

In early 2009 the supporters of Thaksin—popularly called the “red shirts” for the colour of their uniforms and mainly rural-based and from northern and northeastern Thailand but also including urban-dwelling democracy activists—formed a populist movement called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD). The UDD organized protests against this latest change of government, which in April forced the cancellation of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meeting outside Bangkok. Security forces were able to disperse the protesters, but antigovernment mass demonstrations by the red shirts erupted again later in the year and in early 2010.

The 2010 action, which began in mid-March, drew tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters to Bangkok. There the demonstrators barricaded themselves in the heart of the city’s commercial district, demanding that the Abhisit government resign and new parliamentary elections be held. The situation remained calm until mid-April, when government forces unsuccessfully attempted to oust the red shirts from their encampment. More than 20 died and hundreds were injured during the encounter. An attempt at a negotiated settlement with the red shirts failed in early May, and the Thai military soon began an operation to force out the protesters. This action culminated on May 19, when troops took the protesters’ camp by force and arrested the red-shirt leaders. In all, several dozen people were killed and hundreds more were wounded during that action.

About a year later, however, the red shirts scored a major victory. In July 2011 the Phak Puea Thai (PPT; “For Thais Party”), a pro-Thaksin party headed by Thaksin’s younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, won the majority of parliamentary seats in the country’s general elections. Until then, Yingluck, a newcomer to politics, had been involved in the family’s business ventures. The PPT quickly formed a coalition with several smaller parties to create an even larger majority in parliament, and in early August Yingluck became the country’s first female prime minister.

The political tensions continued after she took office, but her immediate concern was massive flooding caused by exceptionally heavy monsoon rains, which had inundated large portions of Thailand and left hundreds of people dead and shut down a large portion of the country’s economically vital foreign-owned manufacturing operations. Most of those companies were back in business by mid-2012, reviving Thailand’s economy, which had been severely hurt by the flooding. Politically, Yingluck was plagued by the spectre of Thaksin throughout her term in office. Although she continued to be popular among her large rural constituency, she was constantly portrayed by the opposition as her exiled older brother’s proxy.

Matters came to a head in 2013, when her government attempted to pass a bill that would have granted amnesty to those involved in the political turmoil between 2006 and 2010—which, it was believed, would include her brother. The bill not only failed in the legislature, but it led to massive antigovernment protests late in the year. Yingluck responded by dissolving the legislature and scheduling early elections for February 2014, which, it was widely believed, the ruling party would win; she remained in office as caretaker prime minister. Opposition protesters managed to disrupt the polling process, however, and the courts ruled that the election was invalid.

The government announced in late April 2014 that legislative elections would be rescheduled for July. In early May the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that Yingluck had illegally removed a government official early in her administration, and she was ordered to leave office. Several members of her cabinet were also dismissed by the court, and Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, one of the remaining members, was named acting prime minister. On May 20, however, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the head of Thailand’s army, declared martial law, citing concerns about the continuing antagonism between the pro-government and antigovernment factions. Two days later the Thai military staged a bloodless coup. The constitution was suspended (except for provisions pertaining to the monarchy), the government was dismissed, and Prayuth was named to head a committee of military leaders—the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)—that was to rule the country. Other measures taken by the military included imposing an overnight curfew, detaining red-shirt and yellow-shirt leaders, and limiting public gatherings to five or fewer people.

In July the NCPO instituted, with the king’s endorsement, an interim constitution. By the beginning of August a new legislature was in office, its members appointed by the council, and on August 25 that body selected Prayuth to be the country’s interim prime minister. Meanwhile, in early May, shortly after she had been dismissed from office, Yingluck was indicted on corruption charges stemming from a rice-subsidy program instituted by her government.

In January 2015 the interim legislature voted to impeach Yingluck for her involvement in the subsidy scheme—which meant that she was barred from seeking public office for the next five years—and in March she was ordered to stand trial in May. On April 1 Prayuth, responding to domestic and external pressure, announced that martial law was to be lifted. In its place, a provision in the interim constitution was to be invoked that would give considerable authority to the executive. Later that month a draft constitution was completed, but it was rejected in September by a government-appointed panel. The junta selected a new constitutional committee in October, and another draft was unveiled in March 2016. The proposed constitution vested enormous power in the military, with the junta directly appointing the entire 250-seat senate and reserving the right to indirectly select the premier. When the proposed constitution was put to a referendum in August 2016, some 61 percent of voters backed it, and the junta promised that a general election would be held in 2017. On October 13, 2016, King Bhumibol died, triggering a period of nationwide mourning as well as intense speculation about the future of the monarchy. Bhumibol’s designated heir, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, was deeply unpopular among the Thai public, as Thailand’s strict lèse-majesté laws (statutes that prohibited the real or perceived defamation of the monarchy) had done little to conceal the prince’s often controversial behaviour.