As Thaksin continued to fortify his increasingly firm grip on power, a group of ultra-nationalists, royalists, business elites and members of the urban middle class formed the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in a bid to unseat the prime minister.
The group, led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul and former general Chamlong Srimuang, donned yellow-shirts — the color of the highly venerated and nationally beloved King Bhumiphol Adulyadej — in a sign of undying allegiance to country and the royal family, whom they believed Thaksin was seeking to undermine.