The northeast was also a bastion of support for Thaksin, whose populist policies helped generate a political movement that unsettled the established elites. Since Thaksin was toppled in 2006, Thailand has been riven by political instability, as the country divided into political groupings that drew their support from a complex network of associations: on one side, the generally pro-Thaksin red shirts whose support comes mainly from rural communities in the north and east; on the other, the urban and middle class elites, who largely favour a less populist, more paternalistic form of governance.