During that time, hundreds of red-shirt villages mushroomed across Udon Thani, which was widely perceived as the red-shirt capital.Shades of 2010The pilot village was founded in answer to red-shirt supporters' wrath following the 2010 Bangkok bloodshed when red-shirt protesters staged large-scale rallies in Bangkok against the then Democrat-led government. Red flags, banners displaying village names, large pictures of their two beloved former prime ministers, Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck, and symbolic decorations of red-shirt villages - all have been removed and hidden.The military crackdown on red-shirt supporters has left Isaan villages wilting.Some village and community heads who are former red-shirt supporters have turned into junta supporters since the coup. Dozens of red-shirt village heads in the province including Kongchai were summoned and asked to stop politically mobilising. The founding of the village as a red-shirt bastion was initiated by Udon Thani red-shirt secretary-general Arnon Sannan and supported by Kamonsin Singhaanurak, the group's leader, to serve as a symbolic movement for democracy. Village leaders believed they had no choice or power to bargain so they dismantled their "red-shirt villages" and took down the flags, banners and symbols referring to colour-coded politics.The Royal Thai Army Division 24 based in Udon Thani also played an important role in suppressing red-shirt activity.

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 28, 2016 17:15 UTC