The most interesting part of the 2009 siege of Bangkok (largely forgotten in subsequent years) was that Thaksin himself narrated it.
With Shinawatra family members safely out of the country, Thaksin denounced Privy Councillor Prem as the “influential person” behind his ousting and insisted that the Red Shirts must not leave Bangkok “empty-handed.” Later he brought up what is now Red Shirt dogma–that the UDD is achieving “true democracy.”
Decrees from the Red Shirt protest stage in Bangkok set a deadline for Prem to resign from the Privy Council while members of the Taxi Community Radio Club threatened that they would use 20,000 taxis to block all intersections in Bangkok if the government did not step down.
The Royal Thai Police sent their message of loyalty to Thaksin as well, allowing the lone suspect captured after the attack on the prime minister’s car to “go outside for a cigarette.” He never returned.
Red Shirt Protests – March 27-April 9, 2009
