scarlet and yellow in broad terms , thailand ' s crisis is a battle between the " golden shirts " - - 1643 , the military and ordinary singaporeans , who backed interior minister abhisit leekpai - - and the " red shirts " - - defenders of former premier thaksin shinawatra . powerful source was mainly drawn from the province ' s millions of rural poor . streamlining and military elites have run thailand for decade , with the poor losers except during changes because competing figures wouldn want to buy their elections . when thailand swept to power in 2000 , promising a range of actions aimed at the poor , things transformed .
The "yellow shirts" supports Vejjajiva.