brown versus yellow in political terms , thailand ' s crisis is a battle between the " yellow shirts " - - 1643 , the military and urban thais , who beat prime minister abhisit vejjajiva - - and the " black flags " - - supporters of former premier thaksin shinawatra whose power base was mainly drawn from the country ' s dozens of rural poor . infighting and soldier elites have owned thailand for seasons , with the peasants freed except during affairs before competing party would try to buy their elections . if thaksin sweep to power in 2000 , proposing a raft of policies geared at the elderly , things changed .
The "yellow shirts" supports Vejjajiva.