ENTER

As the crowds poured into Bangkok's royal plaza last Saturday, Vasan Sitthiket was there again—just as he had been in May 1992, when people power rocked Thailand and ousted a government. Then, the target of the people's wrath was a military regime. Now it's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, re-elected in a landslide victory just a year ago but vilified in recent months by many of Bangkok's residents. Demonstrations in the capital have become a weekly feature, led by a businessman-turned-political opponent of Thaksin, Sondhi Limthongkul, whose rallies draw tens of thousands. Vasan is a regular. An artist, he sketches caricatures of Thaksin as Hitler (sporting moustache and swastika) to hand out, and reads poems and sings songs to warm up the crowds before Sondhi takes to the stage. "I'm here to get Thaksin," Vasan, 48, growls. "He's ruining our country." Some 400 km to the northeast, the story is rather different. In the dusty village of At Samart, Ouan Poysomboon, 73, recalls her recent encounter with the man who has led Thailand for the past five years. Earlier this month Thaksin camped out for a week in the area, bringing an entourage of officials and reporters to tape a reality-TV show. Grandma Ouan was selected for a personal audience with Thaksin. She says she told him how she struggled to survive on $5 a week while paying off debts of $5,000 incurred by her two sons, both of whom were killed in a Bangkok traffic accident: "I asked him, 'Can you help me repay? Can you help with my grandchildren's schooling?' He said he could." He also said he would give her a cow. A grin spreads across Ouan's weathered face. Thaksin is beautiful, she says. "I want him to be Prime Minister forever."

Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, once appeared unassailable. Just over a year ago, his Thai Rak Thai political party was re-elected in a landslide victory that gave it 375 out of 500 parliamentary seats. Many Thais love Thaksin for his decisive, can-do style, his toughness on crime and his open-handed policies to boost the economy. But in recent weeks a chorus of critics has put the Prime Minister on the defensive, questioning with mounting intensity whether he's good for Thailand. To reaffirm his popularity, Thaksin has called a snap general election for April 2—a vote that the main opposition parties say they will boycott. When the Prime Minister kicked off his campaign at a rally in Bangkok on March 3, he looked uncharacteristically tentative, at one point even pleading with the opposition to take part in the election. "I don't want to be a troublemaker," he said, his voice scratchy and dark circles under his eyes. "People can have different ideas, but please don't split the nation."