Hundreds of supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand who was deposed by a military coup in 2014, came to the Thai Supreme Court to show their support for her. Yingluck is being criminally prosecuted on corruption and mismanagement charges but she remains very popular.

Thailand marked the 1st anniversary of the coup that deposed the elected Pheu Thai government. The six months preceding the coup had been marked by street protests and increasing violence led by Suthep Thaugsuban, an opposition politician. The army stepped in on May 20, 2014 and unilaterally declared martial law. After two days of martial law, army commander Prayuth Chan-o-cha declared that he was taking all power and the civilian government had been overthrown. There were small protests in several places in Bangkok and upcountry Thailand. Police made arrests at many of them. The protest at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre was the biggest. About 100 people gathered to protest the coup. The police made repeated sweeps through the crowd, arresting the crowd's leaders and there were some scuffles between protestors and police.

Apiwan Wiriyachai was a Thai politician mostly in the Pheu Thai Party, which was aligned with exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and a member of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (Red Shirts). He was the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (Thailand's lower house) in the Parliament before the May 2014 coup that deposed the elected government. Apiwan was charged with Lese Majeste after the coup and fled Thailand rather than face prosecution. He died in exile in the Philippines on October 6. The military government said his body could be brought back to Thailand for cremation but insisted that the funeral should be religious only with no discussion of politics. The funeral, which is expected to take about a week, started Sunday, Oct. 12. Tens of thousands of Apiwan's supporters and Red Shirts stood in line for hours to pay respects to Apiwan and bathe his hand in scented water. The Red Shirts' political leaders attended the funeral and were greeted as rock stars, but they followed the military instructions. They paid their respects to Apiwan, some posed for photos but then they left without making public comment.

The Thai military junta, formally called the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), is sponsoring a series of events throughout Thailand to restore "Happiness to Thais." The events feature live music, dancing girls, military and police choirs, health screenings and free food. This party was in Lumpini Park in Bangkok.

Terminal 21 is one of Bangkok's most popular shopping malls. On Sunday, June 1, hundreds of people opposed to the Thai coup came to the mall to protest the coup. Police chased some protestors through the mall and armed members of the Army secured and eventually closed the mall.

Chutaron Chaisang (also Chaisaeng) was a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education in the elected, civilian government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. When the Thai army ousted the civilian government in a coup and ordered all members of the cabinet to report to the army. Chutaron refused and went into hiding. He surfaced in a press conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand. As the press conference was ending, a squad of Thai soldiers came into the Club and took Chutaron away. He is now in army custody. These pictures were made at the press conference and as he was led away.

Public anger over the coup that ousted the democratically elected government in Thailand is growing. There were several marches in Bangkok and Chiang Mai Saturday. Most marches were peaceful but several people were arrested in both places.

The Thai army declared martial law Tuesday. When military mandated talks between all sides in Thailand's ongoing political crisis failed to produce any results, on Thursday evening General Prayuth Chan-ocha, commander of the Royal Thai Army, arrested all of them and took power. Thailand is now being governed by a military junta. The constitution and civilian government have been suspended.

These are photos of Martial Law and the 2014 Coup that unseated the popularly elected Pheu Thai government.

Suthep Thaugsuban, the firebrand leader of the anti-government movement in Thailand, marched to the Thai Parliament building, in Bangkok's leafy Dusit district, Monday. He's calling on the Senate, the only functioning elected body in Thailand right now, to appoint a new Prime Minister after the court's ouster of the elected government last week.

Thousands of Thai Red Shirts came to Wat Samian Nari for the funeral of Kamol Duangphasuk, 45, a popular poet who wrote under the pen name Mai Nueng Kor Kunthee. Kamol had been writing since the 1980s and was an outspoken critic of the 2006 coup that deposed Thaksin Shinawatra. He organized weekly protests against Thailand's Lese Majeste laws, which he said were being used to stifle dissent. Kamol was shot and murdered on April 23. The assailants are still at large but the murder is thought to be political.

The Red Shirts are rallying on the edge of a Bangkok suburb. They are there to support the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The government is facing increasing pressures from the protest movement led by Suthep Thaugsuban and the Thai legal system. The courts are hearing several cases which could result in Yingluck being forced out of office.

Thais voted in the "snap election" Sunday. The election was called in December when the Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament in the face of massive protests against her government. Voting went smoothly in most parts of the country but in many parts of Bangkok and in the southern provinces, home base of the Thai opposition, voting was disrupted by anti-government protestors who said the election was a sham. They blockaded polling places and prevented the distribution of ballots. There will be another round of voting in a week in areas that weren't able to vote Sunday.

Suthin Taratin was a Thai opposition leader, one of the "core leaders" of the anti-government movement, a vocal opponent of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. On Sunday, Suthin was murdered by an unknown gunman, alleged to be a "Red Shirt" supporter of the government. Suthin was leading a group of protestors who were trying to block access to a polling station when a group of Red Shirts, who wanted the polling station to remain open, confronted the Suthin's group. Shots were fired Suthin was hit twice and died before reaching the hospital. His bathing ceremony, the first step in Buddhist funeral rites, was held Monday afternoon at Wat Sommanat Rajavaravihara.

Several hundred people gathered in Banjasiri Park, on Sukhumvit Road next to the Emporium shopping center, Sunday night for a candlelight vigil. They prayed, chanted "Respect my vote" in Thai and English, and sang John Lennon's "Imagine," a song all sides have used in the ongoing tensions. The vigil Sunday night was not an overtly political rally - several people told me they don't support either Thaksin or Suthep but they do support democracy, and the right to vote in Thailand. But as positions harden and violence becomes more common the vigils are becoming not only a call for peace, but a chance to speak out against a coup, which could suspend Thai democracy.

Shutdown Bangkok stretched into Day 5 Friday. Stages in central Bangkok, between the Asoke and Pathum Wan intersections, still had a street fair atmosphere. But beyond central Bangkok the situation was more tense. Volunteers are building bunkers from sandbags and old tires at guard posts. Night time attacks by unknown gunmen and people throwing IEDs are common. Groups of government supporters are starting to confront anti-government protestors. There was a melee between both sides at a protest site outside central Bangkok Friday that went on until the Army separated both sides. Also Friday, an unknown assailant threw a grenade at an anti-government march near Pathum Wan. Dozens of people were injured and one killed in the attack. A mob went door to door looking for the assailant, who was not found.

Shutdown Bangkok is continuing to gridlock the center of the Thai capital. Thousands of anti-government protestors, led by former Deputy Prime Suthep Thaugsuban, are camped out at stages set up in seven of the city's busiest intersections. Wednesday, Suthep led a march up Sukhumvit Road from the Asoke stage to Ekkamai and then through a residential part of Bangkok. People lined the route to see the fiery leader. As Suthep passed, people pressed thousands and thousands of Baht into his hands which he dropped into garbage bags carried by assistants. The money is supposed to be used to fund the protest movement.

Shutdown Bangkok is the latest strategy of the anti-government protestors in Bangkok to bring down the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra. Protestors have occupied at least seven key intersections in Bangkok and shut down the roads around the intersections. Traffic is gridlocked in the areas around the intersections and government ministries are being forced to work out of other locations.

Political tensions in Thailand are reaching a boiling point. A small but determined peace movement has started holding rallies at universities and in public spaces across Thailand. Sunday night about 500 people came to Thammasat University, near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, for a candlelight vigil for peace in Thailand.

Suthep Thaugsuban, the politician who is leading the anti-government protests in Bangkok, has pledged to shut down the Thai capital starting January 13. This morning, Suthep and his supporters when a march through Bangkok's Chinatown. It was called a rehearsal for the shutdown marches next week but it was very much a fund raiser for the movement. People stuffed thousands of Baht into Suthep's hands as he moved through the crowds.

The anti-government riots in Bangkok took a deadly turn today when a police officer, apparently shot by protestors, died in surgery. According to a local newspaper, the helicopter airlifting the wounded officer out of the stadium took ground fire and was damaged on its flight to the hospital. Today's protests were focused on preventing the election commission from finishing the ballot draws (to determine the order of the list of candidates on the ballot). The draw went on despite the riots and fighting in the streets around the venue. More than 50 people were hospitalized, most protestors shot by rubber bullets or overcome by tear gas.

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protestors paralyzed Bangkok Sunday. They set up stages at many of the city's busiest intersections and led motorcades from stage to stage gridlocking traffic and jamming the Skytrain and subway systems. A few thousand protestors also went to caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's home. They marched through the upscale neighborhood and closed streets in the area.

Anti-government protests are continuing in Bangkok. Today protestors supporting former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and his PRDC marched through the Silom area of Bangkok.

Yingluck Shinawatra, the Prime Minister of Thailand, dissolved the Lower House of Parliament Monday as more than 100,000 people took to the streets to protest against her government. The protest was a culmination of the protests that started in early November as a response to a failed attempt to pass a sweeping amnesty law. The protests were led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and vocal critic of the Shinawatra family's role in Thai politics. Unlike protests last week, Monday's protests were peaceful. New national elections will be held on Feb. 2, 2014. Yingluck continues in her role as Prime Minister until then. Suthep has said that is not satisfactory and vows to continue the protests until the Shinawatra family is out of Thai politics.

Violent protests continued in Bangkok Monday. The protests were more like guerrilla warfare than yesterday's protest. Protestors used slingshots to shoot rocks and fireworks into police lines while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The anti-government protests in Bangkok turned violent over the weekend. Protestors, who have occupied several government offices since Monday, tried to march to Government House (the Prime Minister's office). They were met by a phalanx of police officers and rows of razor wire and concrete barricades. Protestors would rush police positions, throwing rocks, paving stones and large firecrackers. Police responded by using tear gas and water cannons on the crowd.

Anti-government protestors marched to the US Embassy in Bangkok Friday. They didn't overtly protest US policies towards Thailand. They called on the US to support their efforts for change in Thailand. The march was led by former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who lost the 2011 election to current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Thaksin Shinawatra, the outlaw, exiled former Prime Minister of Thailand is loved by his Red Shirt supporters in northern Thailand and the Isan region and loathed by the Thai Democrats and their supporters in Bangkok and southern Thailand. There are several groups opposed to Thaksin but most have their roots in the Yellow Shirt movement that paralyzed Bangkok in 2008 when they occupied the airports. The groups have fractured and reformed since then but most have stayed active. In late 2013 the anti-Thaksin movement picked up steam when former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban ignited a new series of protests. Suthep's protestors occupied several government ministry buildings and threatened to occupy government complexes outside of Bangkok. This is the most serious threat to the government since the 2008 airport seizures. These are all of the photos I've made at anti-Thaksin protests. Photos of the Red Shirts (who support Thaksin) are in the Red Shirts (all) gallery.

Anti-government protestors led by former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban stormed the Ministry of Finance and several other government ministries in Bangkok Monday and Tuesday and occupied them. The protestors are demanding the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down.

The Thai Constitutional Court, ruled Wednesday on the legality of the proposed amnesty bills passed the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. There were fears that the court would find the amnesty bill unconstitutional and dissolve the ruling Pheu Thai ruling party as punishment. Thousands of Red Shirts, the base of the Pheu Thai, traveled to Bangkok to watch the verdict being read. Ultimately, the court ruled that the amnesty bills were unconstitutional, which had little practical impact since the bills was defeated in the Senate, but also ruled that despite the law's unconstitutionality, the government would not be dissolved. When the court's final ruling was read aloud a cheer roared through the crowd and some people wept in joy and relief.

Anti-government protests erupted in Bangkok when the Pheu Thai led government proposed sweeping amnesty bills that would probably have allowed fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return Thailand from self imposed exile. The bill was passed by Thailand's lower house in Parliament but defeated in the Senate chamber but protests have continued.

About 2,500 people turned out to protest against political amnesty bills put forward by Pheu Thai, Thailand's ruling party. The protest was much smaller than expected and met by a massive police presence of tens of thousands of riot police. Rather than confront the police, protesters chose to end the protest and the day ended peacefully.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the former Prime Minister of Thailand, is still a popular Thai politician and leader of the Thai Democrats, now the opposition party. He visited a working class neighborhood in Bangkok Monday to deliver a speech and campaign against the proposed amnesty bills being promoted by the Pheu Thai party, the ruling party in Thailand.

People's Democratic Force to Overthrow Thaksinism (they call themselves Pefot) held its inaugural rally against Thaksin Shinawatra in Bangkok this weekend. It's the newest anti-Thasin group to emerge in field crowded with group opposed to Thailand's ousted and exiled former Prime Minister. About 4,000 people attended the rally, a small number by Thai political rally standards and many were members of existing anti-Thaksin groups like the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD - the "Yellow Shirts" who closed the airports in 2008) and the "White Masks" (who use the V for Vendetta "Guy Fawkes" mask in their protests and call themselves "V for Thailand").

The Red Shirts recently had a birthday party for Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled former Prime Minister of Thailand. Thaksin's 64th birthday was July 27. Thaksin was deposed in a coup in 2006. After the coup he was charged with and convicted of corruption charges. He maintains that he is innocent and that the charges were politically motivated. Thaksin fled Thailand rather than go to jail.

Several hundred members of the "White Mask" protest movement marched through central Bangkok to protest corruption and allegedly anti-Monarchal leanings of the ruling Pheu Thai Party of Yingluck Shinawatra. Most wore the Guy Fawkes mask popularized by the move "V for Vendetta" and the Anonymous movement. Many of the protesters who didn't have Guy Fawkes masks wore Venice style carnival masks.

More than 85 people died in political violence in Bangkok in April and May 2010 when anti-government Red Shirts held protests and motorcades that gridlocked parts of Bangkok. The Thai army was put on the street in mid-April to try to control the protests but all they could do was contain them to a large swath of central Bangkok. The protests were finally ended on May 19, 2010 when soldiers attacked protesters' positions. Every year since, the Red Shirts have marked the day with a large rally in Ratchaprasong Intersection, the last of the protest sites to fall to the soldiers.

The Red Shirts, who have been camped out at the Constitutional Court for the last three weeks, took their protest to the Parliament Wednesday.

Hundreds of Red Shirts have gathered at the Thai Constitutional Court to protest the Court's rulings that the Red Shirts say are delaying political reform in Thailand.

Pongsapat Pongchareon, the Pheu Thai candidate for Governor of Bangkok, was widely expected to win election. He maintained a lead through pre-election polling. Election day exit polls conducted by Thai newspapers and TV stations consistently showed him winning by 6 to 9 percentage points. But all of the polling was wrong. Pongsapat's chief rival, the incumbent MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, running for the Democrats, defied all of the polls and his own party's expectations and retained the office. The mood at Pongsapat's election watch party turned increasingly bitter as numbers came in showing their candidate lost. At the end of the night, Pheu Thai supporters attacked the TV sets in their offices as news anchors announced Sukhumbhand's victory.

Pongsapat Pongchareon ended his campaign for governor of Bangkok with a large rally in Lumpini Park Friday night. The election is Sunday, but Thailand does not allow political campaigning in the hours before the election.

Bangkokians go to the polls on March 3 to elect their governor. It's a crowded field but the two leading candidates are the Pheu Thai's Pongsapat Pongcharoen, a retired Police General, and the Democrats' M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the incumbent. Bangkok has long been the center of power for the Democrats, but Pheu Thai's Pongsapat is leading in most polls. Pheu Thai is supported by most of the Red Shirts and a Pheu Thai victory would be a seismic shift in Thai politics. The standard bearers for both parties, the Democrats former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva campaigning for Sukhumbhand on Saturday. Sunday Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra went on the campaign trail for Pheu Thai's Pongsapat.

Former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is still a member of parliament and still the leader of his party, the Democrats. He was campaigning on the Skytrain on behalf of Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who is running on the Democrats' ticket for governor.

Thai magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was sentenced to 11 years in prison for violating Thailand's tough "Lese Majeste" laws. Supports of the Red Shirt editor say he's a political prisoner, Thai officials say he broke the law.

There was a large anti government, pro-monarchy, protest on November 24, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Siam Pitak group, which sponsored the protest, cited alleged government corruption and anti-monarchist elements within the ruling party as grounds for the protest. Police used tear gas and baton charges againt protesters.

This was the scene at Government House in Bangkok today. Thai authorities have imposed the Internal Security Act (ISA), that enables police to call on the army if needed to keep order. The government has also placed thousands of riot police in the streets around Government House in anticipation of a large anti-government protest Saturday. The group sponsoring the protest, Pitak Siam, said up to 500,000 people could turn out to protest against the government.

Yingluck Shinawatra was elected the Prime Minister of Thailand in Sunday's election. She's the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, twice elected Prime Minister of Thailand and deposed in a military coup in 2006. Yingluck is the first woman elected Prime Minister in Thai history.

More than 47,000,000 Thais were registered to vote in Sunday's election, which had turned into a referendum on the current government, led, by the Thai Democrats and the opposition Pheu Thai party. Pheu Thai is the latest political incarnation of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. PT is led by his youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who is the party's candidate for Prime Minister.

Pheu Thai, the party widely expected to win Thailand's national election Sunday, held its final campaign rally of the 2011 election Friday night in a massive stadium in Bangkok. Yingluck Shinawatra, the party's standard bearer, spoke to the crowd in a driving rainstorm. These are a few of the photos. The real question regarding PT's expected victory is by how much. Thailand uses a parliamentary system similar to the UK. For an outright victory, the winner needs 50% +1. If they win by less than that they would need to form a coalition government with some of the minor parties. In that case, the ultimate winner could be either Pheu Thai or the Democrats - the first of the two main parties to form the coalition.

Absentee voting was Sunday, July 26 in Thailand's national election. The regular voting is Sunday July 3. In Chiang Mai, center of the powerful Red Shirt opposition movement and their legal party Pheua Thai, turnout was heavy despite a steady rain. Thailand's democracy will be tested in this election, which is the most bitterly fought contest in Thai political history. The Pheua Thai represents people loyal to fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by a military coup in 2006. The ruling Democrats have governed Thailand in one form or another nearly continuously since 1932. Pre-election polls show Pheua Thai leading but not by enough to rule without forming a coalition with smaller parties.

Thais go to the polls on July 3 to elect a new national government. Some hope the election will start Thailand's healing process after nearly five years of political division and violence. Last year nearly 100 people were killed in Bangkok when the Thai Army attacked "Red Shirt" protestors, supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, camped in Bangkok's commercial district. This year Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has taken the mantle of leadership in Pheua Thai, the Red Shirts' political party. She has a large lead over Thailand's incumbent Prime Minister and the Democrat Party. The Yellow Shirts, the Red's bitter opponents held a rally in Bangkok to encourage people to vote "no" and nullify the Reds' likely win.

Thai troops and anti government protesters clashed on Rama IV Road again Sunday afternoon in a series of running battles. Troops fired into the air and unidentified snipers shot at pedestrians on the sidewalks. At one point Sunday the government said it was going to impose a curfew only to rescind the announcement hours later. The situation in Bangkok continues to deteriorate as protests spread beyond the area of the Red Shirts stage at Ratchaprasong Intersection. Many protests now involve people who have not been active in the Red Shirt protests and live in the vicinity of Khlong Toei slum and Rama IV Road. Red Shirt leaders have called for a cease fire, but the government indicated that it is going to go ahead with operations to isolate the Red Shirt camp and clear the streets.

There was heavy sporadic street fighting in Bangkok Friday, May 14, along Rama IV Road, near the Sala Daeng intersection and along Witthayu (Wireless) Road. Some of it was the Red Shirts vs. the Army, some of it residents of Khlong Toey slum vs. the Army. Several people were killed and several journalists were shot. These pictures were made along Rama IV Road. The morning fighting was Army vs. Red Shirts, the afternoon was Army vs. Khlong Toey slum residents. The photos are more or less arranged in the order of the day's events.

Thai troops and anti government protesters clashed on Rama IV Road Friday afternoon in a series of running battles. Troops fired into the air and at protesters after protesters attacked the troops with rockets and small homemade explosives. Unlike similar confrontations in Bangkok, these protesters were not Red Shirts. Most of the protesters were residents of nearby Khlong Toei slum area, Bangkok's largest slum area. The running battle went on for at least two hours.

The Red Shirt protest in Bangkok erupted into almost uncontrolled violence Friday. Gangs of Red Shirts have taken over military checkpoints on Rama IV and are firing small rockets at military helicopters and army patrols in the area. Troops have responded by firing towards protesters. The military is responding by firing into Red Shirt positions, mostly with rubber bullets but occasionally with live rounds. This afternoon soldiers and police engaged in a running street battle on Rama IV, a main Bangkok thoroughfare. This time the protesters were not Red Shirts. They were residents of Khlong Toey, a nearby slum. The fired rockets and threw rocks and "ping pong" bombs, small home made explosives about twice the power of a "cherry bomb" at police. They also used slingshots to get extra range.

The Red Shirt leaders met with their supporters Monday evening and specified the terms for ending their protest in Bangkok and occupation of the Ratchaprasong Intersection in the heart of the Thai capital's shopping district. The accepted the Prime Minister's "Road Map for Reconciliation" and added one condition, that Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban turn himself into police for his role in allegedly ordering the security forces attack on Red Shirts protestors on April 10 that resulted in more than 20 deaths and 800 injuries. Late Monday night Suthep said he would meet with police Tuesday morning. The Red Shirts haven't confirmed if that meets their demand.

The Red Shirts held a special memorial service at their main protest site in Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok Monday with Buddhist monks leading chants to mark the one month anniversary of the street violence on April 10 that left 25 dead and more than 800 injured.

The Red Shirts have conditionally accepted the offer of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament, investigate alleged human rights violations following the violence of April 10 and call for new elections in November of this year, 18 months earlier than they are currently scheduled, but they want more negotiation before they finalize any agreements. They said their protests would continue until a final agreement is reached. The Red Shirts, started their protest on March 13. They continue to call for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down and dissolve parliament immediately and demand the return of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Red Shirts tore down one of their barricades in the Sala Daeng Intersection in Bangkok Friday. What at first seemed like a step forward took a step back when they rebuilt the barricade a few hours later. The barricade was moved far enough back to allow ambulance access to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, a large hospital at the intersection. Many of the patients in the hospital have been moved to other hospitals because a group of Red Shirts entered the hospital Thursday looking for Thai security personnel, who were not in the hospital. The stand off between the Red Shirts and the government started in early March and enters its third month in May. The Red Shirts continue to call for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down and dissolve parliament and demand the return of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thai soldiers moved into the Silom Rd area in Bangkok Monday. Silom is the heart of Thailand's financial services industry - the Wall Street of Thailand as it were. The government has not been able to dislodge the Red Shirts from Ratchaprasong Intersection, the heart of Thailand's retail industry, so they hope to prevent a similar problem in Silom by preventing the Red Shirts from ever getting there. The soldiers were brought in early this morning. They put up barricades in Sala Daeng intersection to prevent the Reds from driving their trucks into Silom and the area was flooded with thousands of soldiers. Workers in the area, most of who don't support the Reds, greeted the soldiers as conquering heros and brought them food and water. Spontaneous patriotic demonstrations broke out along Silom Rd. The Thai government has said now that they will rely more on the soldiers to control the crowds and relegate the police to a support role. The soldiers seem to be better equipped. This morning they were armed with a mix of assault rifles and shotguns. At previous demonstrations the police have been unarmed or had handguns only.

Thousands of Pink Shirts gathered at Victory Monument in Bangkok this weekend to show their support for the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, to call for peace in the Kingdom and an end to Thailand's color coded politics. The Red Shirts were gathered just a few miles away and show no signs of backing down and continue to call on the government to step down.

In the Therevada Buddhist tradition a person is cremated upon death, it follows the tradition of cremation in India and the example of the Buddha, who was himself cremated. Cremation usually takes place shortly after death, however it can be delayed to allow for a long mourning period at the request of the family. That is what's happening right now in Bangkok. After the street fighting Saturday hundreds of people were hospitalized. Many with critical injuries are still in intensive care. One died today and more are expected to die in coming days. Many of the families are cooperating with the Red Shirts leaders and delaying the cremation until the end of a lengthy mourning process (a few may have been cremated in their villages already). No one has said yet when the funerals will take place. During the mourning period, monks meet daily with the family to chant the Abhidharma. Tonight's chanting was the first in a temple (the bodies, which are in chilled coffins, have been lying in repose at Democracy Monument, they were moved to a temple early today). It's a private ceremony - only about 50 Thais were there.

Today the Red Shirts held the funeral cortege for the 16 Red Shirts that were killed in street violence in Bangkok Saturday. It was an amazing spectacle. Sixteen pickup trucks, each with a flag draped coffin in the bed and covered in flowers drove through the city and people came out to pay respects or hand roses to the surviving family members in the pickups. A Red Shirt offered me a ride on the back of his scooter and together we followed the motorcade for three hours. There were crowds at every major intersection. Bangkok is a huge city but I was struck by no matter what part of town we were in, Red supporters were there to show their grief and anger. The motorcade ended at the Prime Minister's home, which is about a two kilometers from my apartment. Thousands of Red Shirts jammed the Soi while hundreds of riot police blocked the street, preventing them from actually reaching the PM's home. At one point the Reds got off their trucks and rushed the barricades, pushing the police back a few meters. I was convinced the police would have to respond. But then the Reds' security people pushed through crowd and formed a single line between the protestors and the police. And the Reds stopped pushing. They fell back a little and started taunting the police.

The ongoing political protests in Bangkok took a slightly different tack Friday when so called "Pink Shirts," those who are neither Red nor Yellow, took to the streets to demand an end to Thailand's ongoing political crisis. The Pink Shirts said they were educators, export businesses and people who work in the tourism industry, all economic sectors that have been hit hard by the Red Shirt protests that have gripped Bangkok for three weeks. There are more photos in my archive. Do a search on "Pink Shirt."

These are all of the photos I've made of Red Shirt and groups that support Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's exiled and outlawed former Prime Minister. Pictures from 2009 to today.

The Red Shirts took their protests to the Royal Thai Army's 11th Infantry Regiment base in Bangkok Sunday. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been staying at the base since the protests started because that's where the security services command post is. It's also reasonably secure, so the PM feels safer there. There were not as many people at the protest today as there were yesterday, although the numbers may have been diluted because the base is several miles from the main protest site in old Bangkok. It appears as though the PM has blinked in the war of nerves between the government and the Red Shirts. Speakers announced while I was there that Abhisit and the Red Shirt leaders will meet in face to face negotiations starting later today. There are more photos in my archive. Do a search on UDD or Red Shirts.

Bangkok is in the midst of another round of street demonstrations. The Red Shirts vs the government. The Red Shirts support ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the first Thai Prime Minister popularly elected to two terms. In 2006, the Thai army ousted Thaksin in a coup and the Thai courts banned his party. In the 2007 elections that replaced the military government, Thaksin's new party won (Thaksin, now a felon in Thailand didn't run. Instead his proxies were on the ballot). The Yellow Shirts took to the streets and the courts ruled that the new party was not really a new party and was made up of Thaksin's cronies and took orders from Thaksin and they ordered the new democratically elected government to step down. That is how the current PM, Abhisit Vejjajiva came to be the Prime Minister of Thailand. Now it's the Red Shirts who are in the streets protesting. Most of the protests are in the old part of Bangkok, well away from the city's commercial centers of Sukhumvit and Silom. But some of the protests have disrupted the routine of tourists who like to visit the temples and Palace in the historic part of Bangkok. Some observers fear Thailand is on the brink of civil war. These are dangerous times in the Kingdom. Grenade explosions and attacks launched from M79 grenade launchers (a relic of the American wars in Asia) are common place. It's important to note that none of these attacks have taken place where there were large crowds or in areas used by the expat community. In fact, they usually happen late at night or early in the morning in relatively remote areas or around closed government buildings. I think they are meant to scare people rather than kill people. Today's protest was supposed to be a rally at the protest headquarters in old Bangkok. Organizers decided to turn it into a march. That turned into a motorcade, that turned into 10 or more motorcades. The intersections where they met were completely gridlocked.

The Red Shirts are the UDD (United for Democracy against Dictatorship). They support ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They launched a series of protests in Bangkok in late March aimed at bringing down the current government, which itself was seated after the anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirts (PAD - the People's Alliance for Democracy) launched a series of protests to unseat the then government which supported Thaksin. These pictures were made at the rally that started the protest. There are many more photos available from the protest. To see more, please do a keyword search on "UDD" thank you.