Thai ‘red shirts’ turn ‘orange’ for change as Thaksin’s moves divide supporters

Podjanin Towatrakool with former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2009 (left). She is now fully behind "orange", shorthand for the new progressive People’s Party. - COURTESY OF PODJANIN TOWATRAKOOL, TAN HUI YEE

CHIANG MAI: Podjanin Towatrakool used to adore Thaksin Shinawatra so much that she travelled from Thailand to the United Arab Emirates on her own dime to see the former prime minister while he was living there in self-exile.

Bearing a banner, a portrait, a letter and other gifts from Thaksin fans who could not make a similar trip, the housewife from northern Chiang Mai province – now 60 years old – cried upon seeing her idol in 2009. She hugged him – from his left, and then from his right – and called the now 75-year-old man “father”.