Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, and was the Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006.
The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party founded in 1998. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under its founder, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. During its brief existence, Thai Rak Thai won the three general elections it contested. Eight months after a military coup forced Thaksin to remain in exile, the party was dissolved on 30 May 2007 by the Constitutional Tribunal for violation of electoral laws, with 111 former party members banned from participating in politics for five years.
Intouch Holdings PCL is a Thai holding company which focuses on the telecommunication industry. It is the parent company of Advanced Info Service (AIS), the largest mobile phone operator in Thailand, and Thaicom, Thailand's satellite operator. It is listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand and is part of SET50 index.
Sondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul, conspiracy theorist, pro-Beijing anti-democracy reactionary activist, demagogue, and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). He was elected leader of the New Politics Party (NPP).
Panthongtae Shinawatra is the only son of former Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra. He became a billionaire after having been transferred a large portion of his father's stock in Shin Corporation shortly before Thaksin became prime minister.
Somkid Jatusripitak is a Thai economist, business theorist, and politician.
In 2005 and 2006, a series of events occurred in Thailand as a result of public anger with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that was supported by Sondhi Limthongkul and his coalitions. It led a military coup that concluded in the overthrow of the Thai Rak Thai government in September 2006, the flight of Thaksin after the court verdict, and the establishment of the junta government led by Surayud Chulanont, a favourite of privy councillor and senior statesman Prem Tinsulanonda.
ITV was a television station in Thailand that was owned by iTV Public Company Limited, a unit of Shin Corporation. As Thailand's first UHF channel, the station was started in 1995 when the company was granted a 30-year concession by the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to operate a free-to-air television station in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) spectrum at 510-790 MHz. After a lengthy dispute over unpaid concession fees to the Prime Minister's Office, the government's Public Relations Department took over the station in 2007. Its name was changed to Thailand Independent Television (TITV). Following a previously unannounced order of Thailand's Public Relations Department delivered the same day, the station closed on January 15, 2008. In accordance with the Public Broadcasting Service Act B.E.2551(2008), the channel's frequency was assigned to the Thai Public Broadcasting Service.
Muangthai Raisabdah is a Thai political talk show hosted by Sondhi Limthongkul and Sarocha Pornudomsak. The show is Sondhi's personal mouthpiece, and up to 2004 it praised Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Later, when relations between the two soured, it became one of the Premier's most vocal critics. In September 2005, the show was cancelled by its broadcaster, MCOT, after Sondhi allegedly made on-air comments disrespectful to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Sondhi started independently broadcasting his show via satellite and internet, turning tapings into rallies against the government. In February 2006, Sondhi co-founded the People's Alliance for Democracy and the show was incorporated into the PAD's anti-Thaksin rallies.
Sarosha Pornudomsak, born 11 November 1976 in Bangkok, is a freelance broadcast journalist who is fluent in Thai and English and knowledgeable in international news.
The 2006 Thai coup d'état took place on 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d'état against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup d'état, which was Thailand's first non-constitutional change of government in fifteen years since the 1991 Thai coup d'état, followed a year-long political crisis involving Thaksin, his allies, and political opponents and occurred less than a month before nationwide House elections were scheduled to be held. It has been widely reported in Thailand and elsewhere that General Prem Tinsulanonda, a key person in the military-monarchy nexus, Chairman of the Privy Council, was the mastermind of the coup. The military cancelled the scheduled 15 October elections, abrogated the 1997 constitution, dissolved parliament and the constitutional court, banned protests and all political activities, suppressed and censored the media, declared martial law nationwide, and arrested cabinet members.
Mom Rajawongse Pridiyathorn Devakula is a Thai economist. He was the Governor of the Bank of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Following the 2006 Thai coup d'état he served as minister of finance and deputy prime minister in the interim civilian government led by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. Following the 2014 Thai coup d'état he was appointed as a deputy prime minister in the first military appointed cabinet under General Prayut Chan-o-cha. Two days earlier he had resigned from his position as chairman of the board of Post Publishing PLC, the publisher of the Bangkok Post, Thailand's leading English-language newspaper.
Surayud Chulanont is a Thai politician. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's interim government between 2006 and 2008. He is a former supreme commander of the Royal Thai Army and is currently Privy Councilor to King Vajiralongkorn.
Khun Ying Potjaman Damapong, formerly Potjaman Shinawatra, née Soypetpotjaman Damapong is the ex-wife of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
William L. Monson was an American businessman.
Qiu (丘/邱) is an East Asian surname. Pinyin: Qiū in Mandarin Chinese, Yau4 in Cantonese, Chiu1 in Wade-Giles, respectively, of the Chinese surnames 丘/邱, and 秋. The character 邱 means "mound, dune, or hill" but is commonly used as a surname. This surname is common in Mainland China, and is also one of the most influential surnames in Taiwan, as well as the Sichuan and Fujian provinces in the South China region.
Nattawut Saikua is a Thai politician. He is the secretary-general and spokesman of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, and a Member of Parliament for the Pheu Thai Party list. In 2008, he was spokesman for the Somchai Wongsawat government. From January 2012 to May 2014, he served as Deputy Minister in Yingluck Shinawatra's cabinet.
Yingluck Shinawatra, nicknamed Pou, is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the Prime Minister of Thailand following the 2011 election. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest in over 60 years. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision.
Thepchai Yong is a Thai newspaper and television journalist known for his reporting on corruption and his criticism of the governments of Suchinda Kraprayoon and Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mom Luang Nattakorn Devakula is a Thai host and television moderator. He is a former candidate of 2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election.
