The most striking thing about this coup d’état was the speed and size of the anti-coup protests in the early days. For three days immediately following the coup, mass protests of ordinary people simultaneously erupted in many areas of Bangkok but also in Chiang Mai and other towns. This was unprecedented.
These protests were spontaneous, but it would be a mistake to think that they were “unorganized” merely because they were not led by the official Red Shirt movement. For years pro-democracy activists have been creating their own small grassroots networks parallel to the Red Shirts, which are independent of Taksin Shinawat and the former Pua Thai Party. Such grassroots protests make it more difficult for the military to consolidate power for a long period. They are now ruling by force over an angry population.