Nakhonratchasima, Thailand — Two Red Shirt leaders announced Tuesday morning they were dispersing their followers, who had been protesting in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand for days, and would surrender to police. The two leaders of the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra group, United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, were taken into police custody for questioning.

 The two decided to surrender after soldiers surrounded the largest group of protesters, gathered at Government House in central Bangkok, Monday night, sparking fears of a bloody confrontation.

Supol Athawong and Veera Musigapong, the two arrested leaders, may have a question of their own to ask: Thaksin where are you?

Veera Musigapong (L) and “Rambo” Supol Athawong, leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or Red Shirts, who surrendered to Thai authorities on April 14, 2009, after leading an insurrection to bring down the government and restore former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to power.

The wording is identical to the title of a controversial book written by Lieutenant Sunisa Lertpakawat in 2007 about her political hero, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup on Sept. 19, 2006.

Supol and Veera together were responsible for leading thousands of red-shirted protesters into the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel in the resort town of Pattaya and disrupting the ASEAN Summit that was about to begin, forcing visiting heads of state to abruptly leave Thailand after being evacuated by helicopter.

Later the two helped orchestrate a globally embarrassing series of bus burnings, traffic tie-ups, Molotov cocktail explosions and some of the worst public incitement ever seen in the kingdom. Not only were the Red Shirts calling for the king’s chief adviser to resign, some of them were threatening to kill him if he didn’t.

The two leading instigators have colorful backgrounds. Supol carries the nickname “Rambo of the Northeast,” arising from his rough dealings in the region. An elected member of Parliament for Kornburi district of Nakhonratchasima province, he was the target of a bombing in January 2008. The bomb apparently malfunctioned, killing the reported perpetrator, a police officer.

In July 2007, Supol was the victim of a shooting by a gang of men who pursued him in his car. According to reports, they did not know it was armored, and after firing at least five rounds into Supol’s windshield, the gang fled as Rambo’s car rested overturned beside the highway.

Veera, considerably older, should have learned his lesson and behaved differently. Twenty-two years ago he was prosecuted and imprisoned for lèse majesté after stating in a campaign speech that if he had been born the crown prince, he would be drinking whisky instead of standing there getting pains in his knees.

Again in October 2008, while protesting with the Red Shirts’ UDD against the Yellow Shirts’ People’s Alliance for Democracy, he stated, "We gathered today to show that the majority of this country objects to these rebels trampling on Thailand's democracy. We want to show that they are destroying the country in the name of the Thai public."

How does he explain his April 2009 actions in this light?

With this kind of leadership in the vanguard to restore him to power in Thailand, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been skating on thin ice. If there was one thing he had until recently it was credibility among the masses. That may have been irrevocably damaged during the protests of 2009 that interrupted the Songkran Festival – the Thai New Year – and brought shame and pain to the country.

In one especially repugnant incident, the Red Shirts threatened to blow up three tanker trucks filled with liquefied petroleum gas – owned by a company chaired by Thaksin’s brother – parked at what they felt were strategic locations; one in a populated neighborhood, another near the Democrat Party headquarters, and the third near King Power Company. Local residents begged for the first truck to be removed, as it posed an immediate lethal hazard, but to no avail. This incident was broadcast over national TV and to the world.

The UDD television station, DTV, was also doing its part to incite hatred against the current government and those immediately surrounding the king. In several instances, both leaders and guest speakers appeared onstage and called for the outright murder of Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The station was also being used to coordinate strategy and attacks against government offices and other locations. Early on Monday the station’s signal was briefly cut by the government, but strangely restored. Finally the same message appeared onscreen that the signal had been cut, and the screen has been blank since.

During the same time, government troops were carrying out a divide-and-conquer strategy of their own, and by midday Tuesday the UDD finally announced it was suspending its protests.

The four-day insurrection has undoubtedly cost Thailand billions of dollars in tourism, commercial and other losses, but the greatest impact has been to the country’s most cherished possession – its image. For decades the kingdom has safeguarded its smiling, tolerant and unique cultural image, promoting it through media and enforcing it through censorship of negative reports.

After this latest strife, the secret is out – the country is facing divisiveness and large-scale dissatisfaction with the way things are. As one local television commentator put it, the earthquake may be over but there may be many aftershocks yet to come. Just how long the authorities can keep the lid on and successfully stroke ruffled feathers before unrest bobs up again is uncertain.

During the latest unrest, many arrests took place in dozens of provinces. A host of investigations is underway involving charges of insurrection and lèse majesté. In Nakhonratchasima, a fiery radio hostess nicknamed "Daeng," an ardent Thaksin supporter, was arrested after burning a coffin in effigy that carried words deemed insulting to the monarchy.

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(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)