Why has the political crisis escalated recently?
In November, thousands of people demonstrated in Bangkok to oppose a controversial amnesty bill, introduced by the Pheu Thai Party, that would have absolved former leader Thaksin Shinawatra of criminal charges and allowed him to return to Thailand a free man. The bill was rejected in the Senate but the protesters, led by former lawmakers of the main opposition Democrat Party, continued with their street campaign and demanded the resignation of Ms. Yingluck, Mr. Thaksin's youngest sister, and her government.