Thaksin had 'his' police carry out 3,000 killings for 'drugs', but it was mostly about police corruption.
Then he brought in the 30-baht health scheme. Maybe the idea was to garner votes but it turned out to be what ordinary Thai people needed, right to this day.
Thaksin also started Internet censorship in 2005, revved up to full power under Prayuth's coup govt at more than half a million webpages.
Sondhi started the yellowshirts (yellow being Rama IX's b'day colour) in Lumpini Park. This geared up into Shut Down Bangkok, blocking major city intersections for what felt like months.
Jatuporn's redshirts followed on and also blocked traffic. While the yellows were perceived as middle-class, the reds were seen as the poor, peasants, farmers, workers. Which meant the result was a massacre. They also suffered some false flag incidents such as the explosion & fire on the top floor of Zen dept store.
Yes, it's all corrupt. At least we got healthcare.