da: The New York Times
The night before the crucial vote in Parliament, the political defectors were locked for their own protection in hotel rooms, their phones confiscated to shield them from the pleas and payoffs of their former comrades. Those most at risk of turning back were bundled into Parliament on Monday morning and surrounded in their seats by their newfound allies.
When the vote for prime minister was taken, the defections held and Thailand’s most powerful politician, Thaksin Shinawatra, had lost control of electoral politics for the first time in this decade.
Even after his ouster as prime minister in a coup in 2006, Mr. Thaksin, with his wealth and charisma, had continued — except for a year of military rule — to be the kingmaker in…