Patiwat Prachochoen

A Thai term for “people’s coup” – used by exiled Thai politician Thaksin Shinawatra.

V.O.A. News explained recently how the exiled former prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, has adopted tactics to reach his supporters once employed by his political opponent Sondhi Limthongkul:

Back in 2005, when Thai media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul began airing his rallies against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra … he led a technical revolution in Thailand’s political debate.

Sondhi used his A.S.T.V. network to place his speeches on the Internet, and then re-fed it to Thailand via satellite television, taking politics to a wider segment of the population. …

[Now] the former telecommunications entrepreneur [Thaksin] in turn uses technology to encourage his supporters – primarily rural residents and the urban poor. Frequently in the past six months he has addressed rallies via satellite and Internet connections, urging his backers, known as red shirts, to press for new elections.

Reporting recently for Bloomberg on the political instability in Thailand, William Mellor and Daniel Ten Kate noted:

Thaksin was broadcasting speeches his opponents interpreted as calls for a republic. In messages played at mass rallies, he used the phrase “patiwat prachochoen,” which roughly translates to “people’s coup.”

On June 27, thousands of “red shirts” attended a rally in Bangok – the largest demonstration since protests in April, when at least two people were killed, and more than a hundred injured, in violent clashes with soldiers. Reporting on the rally, the BBC noted:

Thailand’s ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra has addressed a big crowd of supporters in Bangkok by telephone, urging them to continue protesting.

The crowd cheered as Mr Thaksin, who lives in exile in Dubai, criticized the policies of the current government.

He complained of being lonely and told the crowd not to leave him “dying in the desert,” promising to “work for the people” if he could return.