Red Shirts Protest in Bangkok (10 images)

Bangkok is in the midst of another round of street demonstrations. The Red Shirts vs the government.

The Red Shirts support ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the first Thai Prime Minister popularly elected to two terms. In 2006, the Thai army ousted Thaksin in a coup and the Thai courts banned his party. In the 2007 elections that replaced the military government, Thaksin's new party won (Thaksin, now a felon in Thailand didn't run. Instead his proxies were on the...
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Bangkok is in the midst of another round of street demonstrations. The Red Shirts vs the government.

The Red Shirts support ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the first Thai Prime Minister popularly elected to two terms. In 2006, the Thai army ousted Thaksin in a coup and the Thai courts banned his party. In the 2007 elections that replaced the military government, Thaksin's new party won (Thaksin, now a felon in Thailand didn't run. Instead his proxies were on the ballot). The Yellow Shirts took to the streets and the courts ruled that the new party was not really a new party and was made up of Thaksin's cronies and took orders from Thaksin and they ordered the new democratically elected government to step down.

That is how the current PM, Abhisit Vejjajiva came to be the Prime Minister of Thailand. Now it's the Red Shirts who are in the streets protesting. Most of the protests are in the old part of Bangkok, well away from the city's commercial centers of Sukhumvit and Silom. But some of the protests have disrupted the routine of tourists who like to visit the temples and Palace in the historic part of Bangkok.

Some observers fear Thailand is on the brink of civil war. These are dangerous times in the Kingdom. Grenade explosions and attacks launched from M79 grenade launchers (a relic of the American wars in Asia) are common place. It's important to note that none of these attacks have taken place where there were large crowds or in areas used by the expat community. In fact, they usually happen late at night or early in the morning in relatively remote areas or around closed government buildings. I think they are meant to scare people rather than kill people.

Today's protest was supposed to be a rally at the protest headquarters in old Bangkok. Organizers decided to turn it into a march. That turned into a motorcade, that turned into 10 or more motorcades. The intersections where they met were completely gridlocked.
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