The protesters at that time were the middle class of Central Thailand. The government was populist, crony capitalist and centered in the North and Northeast. The governments obsession was the bring back Thaksin Shinawatra by voiding criminal charges against. He is the richest Thai but had the poor convinced he was their only friend by instituting socialized medicine, giving money to every small town, and so on. After he was overthrown in a coup by the Army, several years of unrest and one incident of burning the shopping centers at Bangkok’s city center lead eventually to his supporters gaining power and his sister being made prime minister.
The sister overreached with a scheme of buying on credit rice farmers entire production and promising a high price to the farmers. The plan collapsed and the rice farmers were left destitute except in Thaksin’s home region. The sister has been removed by the courts for corruption and will face charges for the rice scheme. This satisfied no one and demonstrations have resumed with anti government protesters being killed and with confrontations between the two factions likely. So, now the Army has moved in and it remains to be seen if condition improve or not.
Everything is complicated in Southeast Asia. I’m sure someone will complain that I’ve oversimplified or misrepresented the situation and emphasize the the sister (Yingluck) was elected as was Thaksin in much the same way Obama has been elected twice.
No, you got it pretty much exactly right and put it very well for a short explanation. That is it in a nutshell, though I would say Yingluck's attempt at amnesty for her corrupt brother (which was her and her PTP parties goal all along) was the initial trigger that brought the Yellow's back out on the street.
It sounds like you live or travel to Thailand a lot to have such a firm grasp of the situation. I was living in BKK when Thaksin was elected and still visit regularly. Was there this January when the 'Shutdown Bangkok 2014' protests were in full force. Let me tell you, getting past the Asok intersection was a nightmare. One night I was trying to get up to Soi 24 going through the checkpoints and Yingluck declared a state of emergency. Troops running up and down securing the skytrain and other key areas was a bit intimidating. The good thing was it drove the police back who the protesters don't trust because they view them as in the pocket of Thaksin's goons. A few weeks later we had pointless elections that were annulled and the whole thing has simmered since. I really think that Yingluck might have rode this thing out, but the constitutional court tossed her out leaving the current vacuum and an opportunity for Suthep to demand reforms before the next vote.
“The sister overreached with a scheme of buying on credit rice farmers entire production and promising a high price to the farmers. The plan collapsed and the rice farmers were left destitute except in Thaksin’s home region.”
OK....
WHY does this sound like exactly the kind of proposal that would come from the Radical Academic Socialists surrounding Obama??