Over the past year and a half Thailand has been in distress with rallies and protests by the "red shirt" group, followers of fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin. Recently, more than half of Thaksin's funds have been ceased and the court has ruled against him. What's happening now is (hopefully) a last stand by the red shirts.

That summarizes the situation. I'm not trying to provide any deeper insight. Honestly, I don't even follow politics that much. I just want to illustrate a single point: the red shirts are only protesting and rallying because they are getting paid to do so. You'll see that these activists will only last while the remainder of Thaksin's finances do.

Here's video evidence of the payouts.





There's also a Facebook page dedicated to the matter: [tinyurl.com]

"Though the Red Shirts have succeeded in calling attention to their agenda, the major societal forces of Thailand appear stacked against them. This includes the monarchy, soldiers in top positions, courts, the ruling coalition, and most business groups."
- Paul Chambers (Thailand specialist at Heidelberg University in Germany)