Thailand: Warring Colours

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For three years Thailand has been divided into two political camps, the yellows and the reds.

Rageh Omaar asks if the country is on the brink of a bloody conflict.

Thailand has emerged from months of political turmoil and street protests with a new, conservative government and now the country’s Oxford-educated Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister of Thailand, is keen to stress to the world that things in Thailand are back to normal.

But from his self-imposed exile in Dubai, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra is trying to keep alive the flames of a revolution.

In the meantime, Thailand’s political conflict had become colour-coded. The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in yellow, and the rural driven National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), calling for Thaksin’s return, in red.

Now, with Democrats finally in power, it looks as though Abihsit is right – things in Thailand are back to normal. The rural revolution has been curtailed, and the elite are back in power with the backing of the army and the blessing of the king.

So has Thailand’s revolution come to an end? Can Thaksin still whip up support from abroad? Does he represent the biggest threat to the current government or has he been defeated? 

Rageh Omaar examines the truth behind the colour-coded class war that is unfolding in Thailand, and explores if real democracy, in what is essentially a patronage system, can be anything more than a dream.

Thailand: Warring Colours can be seen from Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at the following times GMT: 1900; Thursday 1400; Friday 0600; Saturday 0300; Sunday 1900 and Monday 1400.