From self-imposed exile, the influential leader of Thailand's rural red shirt opposition movement has delivered a simple message to followers chafing at the military junta's iron rule: lay low for now, don't panic, "play dead."
Billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, longtime political leader of the north's disenfranchised electorate, is watching events at home closely and urging patience from those who want to see his allies return to power.
"When I spoke to Thaksin, he told me to pretend to be dead a little longer," red shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana, a popular pro-Thaksin leader in the northeastern province of Udon Thani, said.