Red shirt loyalists seen as 'a subdued force'

Core members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship attend a religious ceremony in April last year to mark 12 years since the dispersal of red shirt protesters at Kok Wua intersection, in Bangkok. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul)

Pheu Thai is looking to end the rule of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has expressed hopes to carry on in office for a maximum of two years, by scoring a landslide win in the next general election.

The main opposition party is known to be aligned with the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) which formed part of the party's electoral support and proved to be a well-organised and powerful ally outside parliament for years.