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BANGKOK – Just two years ago, Thailand was at war with itself. Rifle shotsand exploding grenades rang out in Bangkok as troops crushedthrough barricades to disperse a nine-week-old insurrection. Aretired nurse was the last to capitulate. "I stood before the soldiers and asked if they wanted to shoot me,or arrest me," said Phussadee Ngamkham, now 57, who became a heroof the Red Shirt protest movement by refusing to budge while othersfled a final crackdown by soldiers on May 19, 2010, after weeks ofdeadly street fighting. "At that time, I had made a promise with my Red Shirt brothers andsisters that if we didn't get democracy, I wouldn't go home," shesaid. Those days of mayhem, which pitted Thailand's rural masses againsta government they decried as elitist and which left at least 90people dead and almost 2,000 injured, now seem a world away. An election has since given an overwhelming mandate to the partymost closely allied with the protesters, and the normally peacefulBuddhist country has returned to its routines and tourists to itstropical beaches. Much of the us-versus-them vitriol has dissipated, giving way— for now — to an apparent acceptance on both sidesthat while neither the current government nor its predecessors areperfect, elections may be better than street violence for decidingthe country's future. Still, deep divisions remain, and many wonder how long this phasewill last. "It's stability on the surface. The conflicts are still there,"said Michael Nelson, a Thai studies lecturer at Walailak Universityin southern Thailand. "It's a return to business as usual, and aslong as there's no really outstanding point of conflict, ...nothing much will happen. There is no reason to get out on thestreet." On Saturday, Red Shirt supporters will go back to central Bangkokto peacefully mark the anniversary. Like most Red Shirt rallies itwill include an evening video appearance by ex-premier ThaksinShinawatra. He fled into exile after being ousted by a 2006military coup, and was convicted of corruption in absentia. The 2010 conflict was largely between supporters of Thaksin —whose populist policies made him the rural poor's hero — andsupporters of Thailand's traditional powerholders in the royalpalace and the military. Part of the reason for the current state of peace is becauseThaksin's supporters have been appeased by the new prime minister,Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra. She won her 2011 campaign bya landslide and ended the premiership of Abhisit Vejjajiva, astaunch Thaksin opponent who ordered the May 19 crackdown onanti-government protesters who were demanding that his governmentimmediately resign. Yingluck has continued in the spirit of her brother's populistpolicies, cementing her rural base and winning over others who werenot initially supporters. She has increased the minimum wage,handed out ample tax refunds to the budding middle class andendeared rice farmers with a new program that pays them abovemarket rates for rice. Many Thais who oppose Thaksin have come to terms with his sister'sgovernment, saying she has managed to maintain an uneasy butwelcome calm. And Thai politics has not yet produced a viablealternative to the Thaksin camp. "I'm not satisfied with this government, but to be honest theAbhisit government wasn't any better," said SirilukPornchaitipparat, an anti-Thaksin cafe owner who had to shut hercentral Bangkok shop for 10 days in 2010 when the Red Shirt riotingraged in her neighborhood. "No matter how incompetent I think Yingluck is and no matter howmuch I'd like to reject the current government, I don't see anyother choices who can compete with them effectively," she said."Life goes on as usual but we don't know when another round ofdemonstrations will occur. Maybe when Thaksin returns." Yingluck's unstated priority is to ease the way for her brother toreturn without serving the two-year sentence for corruption inoffice that he fled to avoid. Thaksin himself has said he would like to return to Thailand thisyear, a prospect that would surely fire up the other camp ofprotesters in Thailand, known as the anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirts,who also have wreaked havoc on Bangkok streets over the pasthalf-dozen years. Yingluck's ruling party has pushed for a broad amnesty bill forpolitical leaders, supporters and security forces involved in the2010 unrest — seen as an attempt to pave the way forThaksin's return. New York-based Human Rights Watch warned against such a measure asan affront to reconciliation, and has criticized both Yingluck'sand Abhisit's government for failing to bring to justice a singlesoldier or official for the scores of deaths and injuries thatoccurred during the political violence. "This gives the green light for ... people in uniform to do thisagain next time," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director. At least one lasting legacy of the Red Shirt movement is thepolitical awakening of Thailand's majority of rural and urban poor.Phussadee, the former nurse known as the "Last Red Shirt," saidshe'll hold the government to account regardless of whether or notit hails from her side of the country's political divide. She said the Red-Yellow divisions in her neighborhood remain,though she is happy to note the hostility has eased. "Without the mob mentality, people tend to think with reasons, notemotions. The Yellows are thinking what they did was not totallyright and now the Red Shirts also see that the government theysupported is not perfect either," she said. "I think I have accomplished the goal that I fought for two yearsago, but it's still just the first step," she said. "I'm givingthis government four years before they lose my support.". 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