Feb. 2001 - Sept. 2006 : Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Rak Thai Party
* Thaksin Shinawatra
- founded the Thai Rak Thai Party in 1998
- first Prime Minister to serve a full term!
- "introduced a range of partly effective policies to alleviate rural poverty; highly popular, they helped reduce poverty by half in four years," as well as univeral healthcare, a drug suppression campaign...
- BUT! Faced allegations of corruption, authoritarianism, treason, selling national assets to international investors, tax evasion...
- Re-election in 2005 was a high success
* Protests in 2006 by the People Alliance for Democracy (Yellow Shirts) to unseat Thaksin
- Stands for uncorrupt politics, promoting justice, rule of law, very "nationalist" - almost fascist?
- Yellow, for the royal color - claiming they are defending the monarchy against the disloyalty of Thaksin
* A military junta (the Council for National Security) overthrew Thaksin's government in a coup while Thaksin was abroad in Sept. 2006
* Thaksin is now NOT welcomed back to Thailand... is now a citizen of Montenegro?!
- The Thai Rak Thai party was banned/dissolved --> But, some people formed into the People's Power Party!
Oct. 2006 - Jan. 2008 : Prime Minister/General Surayud Chulanont
* General Surayud Chulanont
- Worsening of perceived levels of government corruption!
- "raised the military budget by 35% and was accused of economic mismanagement, rampant human rights abuses, and flip-flopping on numerous policies," + economic growth rate was the lowest,
Jan. 2008 - Sept. 2008 : Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej , People's Power Party
* People's Power Party formed from members of the formal Thai Rak Thai Party
* Samak Sundaravej
- Leader of the PPP
- Accused of being a proxy for Thaksin (the exiled former PM)
- Before 2006, was a notable T.V. chef?!
* People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) 
- Re-established in March, 2008
- After Samak declared he wouldn't resign in response to protest threats, the PAD occupied Sundaravej's Government House, forcing him to work out of a military command post
- Raided Phuket International Airport, resulting in 118 flights canceled/diverted, affecting 15,000 passengers
* In the end.. Samak lost his position as PM, since... Once he became PM, he also resumed his T.V. chef job, but.... the government "ruled that it was unconstitutional for Samak to maintain his television career, to work in a private company while holding the office of Prime Minister, and disqualified him from office" !!!
Sept. 2008 - Dec. 2008: Acting Prime Minister Somchai Wongasawat- People's Power Party
* Somchai Wongasawat
- Thaksin's brother in law?!
* People's Alliance for Democracy
- Nov. 2008 - "Operation Hiroshima"
- Seized Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) for about a week
- Closure of Bangkok Don Muang Airport - domestic passenger terminals, for about a week
* People's Power Party
- Disbanded by the Constitutional Court on Dec. 2, 2008 - stripping party executives of their political rights for five years!
- Thus... b/c Somchai was in PPP, had to resign from being PM.
Dec. 2, 2008 - Dec. 17, 2008 : Chaovarat Chanweerakul - People's Power Party
*Chaovarat Chanweerakul
- was in PPP,
- was still a senior cabinet member while Somchai was PM, but... was technically not a party "executive", so, was still a viable PM candidate
- but... others criticized this, since he wasn't an executive, couldn't be PM, anyway?, thus... a very short lived PM-hood...
Dec. 17, 2008 - NOW: Abhisit Vejjajiva - Democrat Party 
* Abhisit Vejjajiva
- Interesting note... "Abhisit's first act as Prime Minister was to send SMS texts to tens of millions of Thai mobile phone users. The message, signed "Your PM", asked people to help him solve the country's crisis. Interested phone users were asked to send back their postal codes, at a cost of three baht. Abhisit was criticized for violating privacy regulations in the mass SMS. The National Telecommunication Commission says that mobile phone service providers may not exploit client information, including phone numbers, without their consent. However, it did not seek actions against Abhisit.[65][66]"
- Already some scandals, corruption, recalling of ambassadors, tenser relations with Cambodia,
- Pretty tight censorship - of internet sites that seem offensive to the monarchy, blocking of several foreign internet sites and TV programs
* Sondhi Limthongkul (PAD leader) Assasination Attempt - April 2009
- Sondhi's son blamed the government (Abhisit) as being behind the attempt
* Thaksin accused Abhisit and others for the coup that overthrew him
* National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship
- "Red Shirts"
- Claims that Abhisit took over the government, illegitimately
- Anti-PAD
- "It calls for the Thai Parliament to be dissolved so that a general re-election can be held. The UDD allies itself with the For Thais Party. They accuse the country's elite — the military, judiciary, certain members of the Privy Council, and other unelected officials — of undermining democracy by interfering in politics."
- Mainly rural and urban supportors ...
* 2010 Protests
- Started mainly on March 14 in Bangkok, to call for elections - began peacefully
- Pouring of blood on the Government House and other places in Bangkok...
- April 8 - A state of emergency was called by Abhisit
- April 10 - Protests took a violent turn: 21 people killed, at least 800 injured
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