Police soldiers with riot shields and clubs during the Bangkok riots 2009. Troops fired in the air early morning to disperse crowds in the capital, Bangkok, and 70 people reported injured. The unrest follows 2008's protests by anti-Thaksin demonstrators – wearing yellow T-shirts – who occupied Bangkok international airport, stranding about 250,000 foreign tourists for a week.

The coup deposed Thaksin, accusing him of corruption. He enjoys strong support from the rural poor but is largely loathed by urban Thais. Anti-Thaksin supporters, backed by the army, wanted a return to the status quo: a government that is pro-monarchy and looks after the interests of the urban elite rather than those of the countryside. The country is deeply divided and the country's politicians seem unable to bridge the gap.