2008–2009 Thai political crisis
| 2008 29 Jan |
Samak Sundaravej forms a coalition government and becomes prime minister after winning the majority of seats in the 2007 general elections. |
|---|---|
| 28 Feb | Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra returns to Thailand after his political allies win new elections and formed a coalition government. He and his wife face charges of corruption. |
| 28 Mar | PAD regroups, threatening to resume protests against Thaksin. |
| 25 May | PAD demonstrates at Democracy Monument, demanding Samak's resignation, and later occupies Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge. |
| 27 Jun | Samak's government survives no-confidence motion in parliament. |
| 1 Aug | Train and air transport are disrupted by PAD, although services would resume a few days later and state enterprise unions would not follow up on their threat to disrupt services. |
| 11 Aug | Thaksin and his (then) wife, Potjaman Na Pombejra, skip bail and flee to the UK two weeks after she was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud. |
| 26 Aug | PAD protesters invade Government House, three ministries, and headquarters of the NBT. Little effort is made to remove the protesters from Government House, although minor clashes between police and protesters are seen. |
| 2 Sep | Anti-PAD protesters clash with PAD, leaving one dead and 43 injured. A state of emergency is declared in Bangkok. It would last until 14 September. |
| 9 Sep | The Constitutional Court finds Samak guilty of conflict of interest, terminating his premiership. |
| 17 Sep | Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, is ratified by the National Assembly and becomes prime minister. He is rejected by PAD for being Thaksin's nominee. |
| 29 Sep | Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh begins negotiations with PAD leaders. |
| 4–5 Oct | PAD leaders Chaiwat Sinsuwongse and Chamlong Srimuang are arrested by police on insurrection charges filed shortly after the invasion of Government House in August. |
| 6 Oct | PAD protesters rally at parliament, attempting to block a parliament session in which Prime Minister Somchai is to seek approval of policies. Police attempt to disperse protesters using tear gas. Somchai is forced to cross a fence to exit, while members of parliament are stranded in the building for many hours. Intermittent clashes leave two dead and over 300 injured, including 20 policemen. Military troops are deployed to help control the situation. |
| 9 Oct | An appeals court withdraws insurrection charges against PAD leaders and releases Chamlong and Chaiwat on bail. The following day, the remaining PAD leaders turn themselves in to police and are released on bail. |
| 21 Oct | The supreme court finds Thaksin guilty in a land purchase conflict of interest case, and sentences him to two years in prison. |
| 8 Nov | The UK government, where Thaksin has resided, revokes the visas of Thaksin and his (then) wife, Potjaman Na Pombejra, while the couple were travelling in China. |
| 25 Nov | PAD blockades Don Mueang, where the government had temporary offices, and Suvarnabhumi International Airports, leaving thousands of tourists stranded. Several explosions and clashes occur in the following days. |
| 2 Dec | After weeks of opposition-led protests, the Constitutional Court of Thailand dissolves the governing People's Power Party and two coalition member parties and bans leaders of the parties, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, from politics for five years. Wongsawat promptly resigns. |
Beginning in 2008, there was worsening conflict between the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the People's Power Party ((PPP) governments of Prime Ministers Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat. It was a continuation of the 2005–2006 political crisis, when PAD protested against the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. PAD followers usually dressed in yellow, yellow being the royal color of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and were called "yellow shirts". UDD followers, known as supporters of the deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, dressed in red and were widely called "red shirts".
The PPP won the December 2007 general election. Though it became the largest party in the House, it did not gain an absolute majority. PPP became the leading party when five other smaller parties, previously allies of Thaksin Shinawatra, agreed to join the coalition government under Samak Sundaravej.
The coalition government vowed to amend the 2007 constitution which they called undemocratic, prompting PAD to resume protests against the constitutional amendment plan after having suspended its movement after the 2006 coup. PAD charged that the amendment was aimed at revoking charges against Thaksin and election fraud charges by PPP executive members. The Samak government suspended its amendment plan, yet PAD vowed to continue their protest, calling for Samak Sundaravej's resignation, noting that during his election campaign, he had declared himself a nominee of Thaksin. Tensions escalated when PAD seized Government House.
Samak was forced to resign in September after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of being an employee of a television cooking program after he became the prime minister. PPP deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat, vice president of PPP and a brother-in-law of Thaksin, became the new prime minister. This change prompted continued PAD protests. The protests led to violent clashes between the police, PAD, and anti-PAD protesters on 7 October as the government aimed to disperse them from blocking the entrances of the House. A PAD protester was killed by a grenade near the premier's office and a member of the PAD security forces was killed when his car exploded. Many protesters were also injured.
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