Can any DU'er give me a "Thailand crisis for simpletons"?

[Recursion]

I'm curious about what's going on but have no idea where to look (I've learned not to even bother with Wikipedia for modern political crises, since the article will reflect whichever side's partisan reverted it last).

What's going on in Thailand? Is the red or yellow side, broadly speaking, "good" by DU standards?

[Atman]

1. Been there, dealt with that.

I went to Thailand in 2009 to visit my sister. She lives on one of the resort islands, which are TOTALLY different than mainland Thailand. We were supposed to spend the last few days of our vacation in Bangkok, but the Red Shirts shut down the airport and were staging violent protests in the city, so cut it short; spent just one night in the Bangkok Hilton, which was un-fucking-believably nice.

Anyway, the Red Shirts are supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the George Bush of Thailand. He is a multi-billionaire, and was essentially trying to "buy" the country when he was ousted in a "friendly" military coup. He is a total corporatist, living in exile somewhere now. When he ruled Thailand, he ran on a platform of helping the little guy as a means of advancing his own corporatist agenda (much like George Bush). He paid off villagers and farmers, literally. Paid them off to keep them happy. They loved him. Meanwhile, he used his substantial wealth to buy up much of Thailand and privatized just about anything he could. The "revolution" is interesting, because the peasants DID get money from Shinawatra, and do feel he helped them and made their lives better. BUT, it was bullshit. A hundred bucks to a villager may have made him feel wealthy, but it cost Shinawatra NOTHING as he used the power to tighten his grip on the Thai economy.

That's my thirty-second synopsis. I suggest you Google it. Thailand is a beautiful country, a must-visit in my humble opinion. But Bangkok can be a mess -- these protests don't usually spill beyond a small section of the city. If you go there, don't connect in Bangkok...fly directly from Hong Kong to the islands. Much safer.

[Lerkfish]

2. this is a pretty simple report

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/04/21/thailand.bomb.attack/index.html?iref=allsearch