United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD)
- Jeff Hanrahan
- Oct 14
- 6 min read
Introduction and Overview
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) (Thai: แนวร่วมประชาธิปไตยต่อต้านเผด็จการแห่งชาติ), also referred to as the Red Shirts, is a Thai movement that formed in opposition to the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) which, despite the name, is a reactionary monarchist group associated with the Thai military, monarchy and judiciary (1). While the PAD no longer exists, the recent suspension of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra under military pressure in June 2025 has led to a small resurgence of the UDD.
The UDD is largely allied with the Pheu Thai Party, which was the party of Paetongtarn Shinawatra and a successor party to her father, Thaksin Shinawatra’s political party, who was also a prime minister of Thailand before being deposed by a military coup in 2006. In broad strokes, the military, monarchy and judiciary of Thailand can be seen as the opposition to the Pheu Thai Party and the UDD. These three pillars of Thai government all had roles in the 2006 coup and a later 2014 coup that would see the Pheu Thai Party banned, although it is now a legal political party again (1)(2).
History & Foundations
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship was formed in 2006, following a military coup in Thailand (3). The UDD protested against both the coup and the constitution it ushered in. The protests were largely done by supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister who was ousted by the coup (3). During these protests, UDD supporters would wear red clothing, which garnered the nickname Red Shirts for the group.
When elections were held again in 2007, allies of Shinawatra won power, which helped placate protestors. This pacification was short-lived, however, as in 2009 a series of protests held by groups in opposition to Shinawatra (these groups were pro-military and pro-monarchy, and wore yellow, hence known as the Yellow Shirts by many Thais) caused the pro-Shinawatra government to collapse. The collapse was also fostered by rulings made by the pro-monarchy judiciary.
The pro-Shinawatra government was replaced by a government led by prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. It was widely believed by both Shinawatra and protestors that general Prem Tinsulanonda was behind both the 2006 coup and the collapse of the government again in 2009, thus Vejjajiva was also seen as being complicit in the government collapse (4). One reason that Vejjajiva and Tinsulanonda were able to be criticized by Shinawatra and protestors is because Thailand has extremely stringent lèse-majesté laws, so criticizing the king (who was no doubt involved in the coups) would be impossible without legal repercussions. However the prime minister and generals do not share these same protections (4).
The presence of the pro-monarchy protestors as well as what was seen as a corrupt judiciary that sided with the military and monarchy caused UDD protests to flare up again, and this time they would be much larger than what was seen before (3). For the second round of protests there was a much larger police presence, as well as the military. Red Shirts stormed the venue of a political summit in the resort town of Pattaya and attacked prime minister Vejjajiva’s car. Clashes in Bangkok, the capital, involved as many as 100,000 people and would leave two people dead and many more injured (3)(4). After the two deaths however, the organizers of the protests would end up calling off the rest of the protests, fearing more substantial loss of life due to the ever-increasing police and military presence at protests.
One year on though, the protests would reach their most violent, and successful, heights. Beginning in March of 2010, fresh protests were called for, and tens of thousands would turn out once again in Bangkok. In April the first deaths would occur, after the military attempted to disperse the Red Shirts’ camps. At least four soldiers and 17 protestors were killed in this incident (3). Unlike in 2009 however, the protestors were not deterred by the violence, and Bangkok remained occupied by tens of thousands of protestors, now consolidated into one camp.
One month later, the Thai military would once again launch a raid into the Red Shirts’ camp. This time, dozens of soldiers and protestors would be killed (3). However, the increasing protests and the fact that unlike ‘09, the UDD was not as deterred by violence would eventually lead to new elections being held in 2011. The Pheu Thai Party, allies to the UDD, would win in a landslide, with Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister, Yingluck, being elected as Thailand’s first female prime minister (3). She would eventually end up being ousted in yet another coup in 2014, led by the Yellow Shirts (5).
In June 2025 when a member of the Shinawatra family, Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn, also a prime minister, would once again find themselves embroiled in conflict with the military, judiciary and monarchy. After a long-simmering border dispute that came to a head led to a Cambodian soldier being killed, Paetongtarn made a phone call to the Cambodian leader Hun Sen, in which she referred to Sen as “uncle” and was too conciliatory for her country’s opposition party’s liking. This led the Thai Constitutional Court to vote to suspend her (6). This decision led to a small resurgence of the Red Shirt movement, as hundreds of members would once again gather in Bangkok to support what they saw as heavy-handed intervention by conservative parts of the Thai government (7).
Despite Paetongtarn’s attempts, conciliatory or otherwise, a brief war would break out between Cambodia and Thailand over the border. Paradoxically, Yellow Shirts, who before the war were calling Paetongtarn’s attempts to talk to Cambodia too conciliatory, now protested in Bangkok that she in fact started the war (6). Eventually, Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from government by the Thai courts, however, there were not mass protests across the country in response to this decision. This could be a sign that Paetongtarn does not enjoy as widespread support as her father, or simply that the massive organizing power of the UDD has faded (9).
Objectives & Ideology
The UDD is best described as pro-democracy and anti-monarchy. While not all members might want the complete dissolution of the Thai monarchy, they can be said to at least want the military, judiciary, and monarchy to lose the ability to interfere so massively in Thai politics. If Paetongtarn Shinawatra ends up being removed as Prime Minister or another pro-monarchy coup takes place, she will be the third consecutive member of the Shinawatra family to be removed from power at the military’s behest.
That the Shinawatra family takes center stage in the clash between the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts leads many conservatives in Thailand to view the overall UDD movement as an extension of the Shinawatra family. While some members surely do fervently support the Shinawatras, to call the movement a complete extension of the Shinawatra family is at best an over-simplification and at worst an attempt by the Thai military and monarchy to brush aside legitimate grievances some Thai people have with their government.
Thaksin Shinawatra was fairly populist and spearheaded programs such as free credit to Thailand’s rural poor during his time as prime minister (8). Actions like this led to him gaining immense support from Thailand’s lower class population. During the first coup in 2006, many of the Yellow Shirts who aided the military by protesting in Bangkok were urban, while a lot of the Red Shirts would eventually come from the rural population of Thailand (8). At its heart then, the UDD can be seen as an organizing force of Thailand’s rural poor, intrinsically pitted against the urban elite of the country.
Military & Political Abilities
The UDD has very little military power, besides sheer numbers. The protests of 2010 shut down the Thai capital of Bangkok for days and dozens were killed (8). However the first wave of protests in 2009 were brought to a halt after attacks from the military, showing that while the UDD can stomach losses sometimes, they will also stop activities in the face of military pressure other times.
While they might not possess military power, they wield immense political power. Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister Yunglick won the 2011 elections in a landslide in part due to her popularity with the UDD (3). The numbers of Red Shirt protestors that have turned out to support Paetongtarn Shinawatra, even nearly two decades after the founding of the UDD, speaks to the fact that many in the UDD are highly motivated (5,7).
Approach to Resistance
The Red Shirts broadly engage in peaceful protest, mainly gathering in large numbers in a publicly viewed place to communicate their frustrations through chanting and signs. Like any mass protest, there are elements of violence from time to time, but during the biggest protests it was generally the Red Shirt protestors themselves who bore the brunt of the violence by the police or military (8).
International Relations & Alliances
The Red Shirts, as a group that is focused on internal Thai politics, do not have any international backers. However, as far as alliances go, it can be said that the Red Shirt movement itself is one big alliance. As stated earlier, while many of the group consists of supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, there are other members who are simply against the military/monarchy/judicial establishment in Thailand and want a more democratic society, regardless of who is in power (3). It is arguably this diverse set of members that contributed to the mass protests of 2009-2011, as people from all over Thailand who were drawn to the ideals of democracy joined in.
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