Until 22 May 2014, the politics of Thailand were conducted within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, whereby the prime minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislative branches.
Thaksin Shinawatra, also known by Thai netizens as Tony Woodsome, is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, and was the Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006.
Prateep Ungsongtham Hata is a Thai activist noted for her work with slum dwellers in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok, Thailand. Among her supporters, she is known as Khru Prateep, the "Angel of Khlong Toei" or "Slum Angel". She was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1978, founded and became the Secretary General of the Duang Prateep Foundation. She was one of the leaders of the 1992 oppositional movement. In 2000, she was elected to the Senate, representing Bangkok.
Nitiphumthanat Ming-rujiralai is a Thai politician and newspaper columnist.
Khattiya Sawasdipol, alias Se Daeng, was a major general in the Royal Thai Army, assigned to the Internal Security Operations Command, a political activist, and a book author.
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), whose supporters are commonly called Red Shirts, is a political pressure group opposed to the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the 2006 Thai coup d'état, and supporters of the coup. Notable UDD leaders include Jatuporn Prompan, Nattawut Saikua, Veera Musikapong, Jaran Ditapichai, and Weng Tojirakarn. The UDD allies itself with the Pheu Thai Party, which was deposed by the 2014 military coup. Before the July 2011 national elections, the UDD claimed that Abhisit Vejjajiva's government took power illegitimately, backed by the Thai Army and the judiciary. The UDD called for the Thai Parliament to be dissolved so that a general election could be held. UDD accused the country's extra-democratic elite—the military, judiciary, certain members of the privy council, and other unelected officials—of undermining democracy by interfering in politics. The UDD is composed of mostly rural citizens from northeast (Isan) and north Thailand, of urban lower classes from Bangkok, and of intellectuals. Although the movement seems to receive support from former prime minister-in-exile Thaksin Shinawatra, not all UDD members support the deposed prime minister.
Anupong Paochinda is a Thai politician and retired army officer. He held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2007 until his retirement on 30 September 2009.
The New Politics Party, was a political party in Thailand founded on 2 June 2009. The NPP was the political party of the People's Alliance for Democracy, with which it shared the same principles and ideas. Ahead of the 2011 general election, the party broke with the PAD movement, and renamed to Thai Social Democratic Party two years later.
The Red Shirts are a political movement in Thailand, formed following the 2006 coup d'état which deposed then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Originally synonymous with the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), a group formed to protest the coup and resulting military government, the movement subsequently expanded to include various groups with diverse political priorities. Its members range from left-wing and/or liberal activists and academics to the large number of Thaksin's rural and working-class supporters. The movement emerged as the result of socioeconomic changes in Northeast Thailand in the 1990s and 2000s, including a growing middle class, rising aspirations, and an increasing awareness of the extreme inequality and of the fundamentally weak democracy in Thailand, typified by Thailand's primate city problem. Red Shirts group dynamics center on frustrated economic and political aspirations to improve democracy and overcome inequality, which contributed to the 2009 Thai political unrest and the 2010 Thai political protests, as well as shared suffering at the hand of the ruling class hegemony. As with other minorities, the Red Shirts have been dehumanized and demonized, with insults such as "Red Buffalo", since reclaimed by some of its targets. Their claims for transitional justice following the 2010 Thai military crackdown have been subverted by the Thai state.
A series of political demonstrations and following unrest occurred in Thailand from 26 March to 14 April 2009 in Bangkok and Pattaya against the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva and the military crackdown that followed. Up to 100,000 people demonstrated in central Bangkok at the height of the protests. The crackdown is also known in Thailand as "Bloody Songkran", referring to the Thai holiday of Songkran, which takes place on 13-15 April.
Suthep Thaugsuban is a Thai former politician and former Member of Parliament for Surat Thani province. Until 2011, he was secretary-general of the Democrat Party and a deputy prime minister under Abhisit Vejjajiva. He resigned his seat in Parliament in November 2013 to become the self-appointed Secretary-general of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, which was conducting mass protests trying to unseat the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. After the military coup of May 22, 2014, Suthep was temporarily detained and placed under arrest by the new junta. He was released after four days, retired from politics, and entered Buddhist monastichood from July 2014 to July 2015. Since, he became the leader of the Muan Maha Prachachon for Reform Foundation that backed the junta sponsored Thai constitutional referendum, which had been put to a national referendum on 7 August 2016.
The 2010 Thai political protests were a series of political protests that were organised by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Bangkok, Thailand from 12 March–19 May 2010 against the Democrat Party-led government. The UDD called for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections earlier than the end of term elections scheduled in 2012. The UDD demanded that the government stand down, but negotiations to set an election date failed. The protests escalated into prolonged violent confrontations between the protesters and the military, and attempts to negotiate a ceasefire failed. More than 80 civilians and six soldiers were killed, and more than 2,100 injured by the time the military violently put down the protest on 19 May.
Prayut Chan-o-cha is a Thai politician and a former Royal Thai Army military officer, who seized power as Prime Minister of Thailand in 2014. He has also served as Minister of Defence since 2019. Prayut served as chief of the Thai army from 2010 to 2014 and lead the 2014 Thai coup d'état which installed the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta which governed Thailand between 22 May 2014 and 10 July 2019.
Weng Tojirakarn is a Thai medical doctor and politician. He is an activist of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), colloquially known as "Red Shirts" and since 2011 a member of parliament for the Pheu Thai Party.
The 2013–2014 Thai political crisis was a period of political instability in Thailand. Anti-government protests took place between November 2013 and May 2014, organised by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), a political pressure group led by former Democrat Party parliamentary representative (MP) Suthep Thaugsuban. The crisis eventually resulted in the removal of incumbent Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a coup d'état, and the establishment of a military junta.
The People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) or People's Committee for Absolute Democracy with the King as Head of State (PCAD) was a reactionary umbrella political pressure group in Thailand. Its aim was to remove the influence of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra from Thai politics by deposing the incumbent Pheu Thai government of Yingluck Shinawatra and creating an unelected "People's Council" to oversee political reforms. The group played a key role in the 2013–14 Thai political crisis, organising large-scale protests within Bangkok, and in the lead up to the 2014 Thai coup d'état.
The history of Thailand since 2001 has been dominated by the politics surrounding the rise and fall from power of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and subsequent conflicts, first between his supporters and opponents, then over the rising military influence in politics. Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai Party came to power in 2001 and became very popular among the electorate, especially rural voters. Opponents, however, criticized his authoritarian style and accused him of corruption. Thaksin was deposed in a coup d'état in 2006, and Thailand became embroiled in continuing rounds of political crisis involving elections won by Thaksin's supporters, massive anti-government protests by multiple factions, removals of prime ministers and disbanding of political parties by the judiciary, and two military coups.
The National Council for Peace and Order was the military junta that ruled Thailand between its 2014 Thai coup d'état on 22 May 2014 and 10 July 2019. On 20 May 2014, the military declared martial law nationwide in an attempt to stop the country's escalating political crisis, and to force the democratically elected government out of office. On 22 May, the military removed the Yingluck Shinawatra government and formed the NCPO to take control of the country. The junta censored the broadcasting system in Thailand, suspended most of the constitution, and detained members of the Thai cabinet. The NCPO was formally dissolved following the swearing-in of the new cabinet on 16 July 2019. Critics like former Thai ambassador Pithaya Pookaman charge that the NCPO "...is practically still very much intact. Its arbitrary power[s] ... transferred to the existing Internal Security Operations Command chaired by the prime minister."
Chitpas Kridakorn is a Thai politician and activist. She was a speaker of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) during the 2013–2014 mass protests. Since May 2019 she has been a member of the Thai House of Representatives for the Democrat Party.
Tiwagorn Withiton is a Thai political and human rights activist, farmer and engineer. He is one of the first political activists in Thailand that openly challenge the country's taboo, harsh punishment by the Monarchy defamation law, by publishing his photo of him wearing a printed 'I lost faith in the Monarchy' T-shirt.
