ThaksinIn the early 1990s, Thaksin Shinawatra came from nowhere to become a multi billionaire in just four years. In 2001, he was elected prime minister on a single minded promise to accelerate Thailand to first world status through unrestrained capitalist growth. In 2009, over video link from exile in Dubai, he urged thousands of red shirted supporters to revolution, provoking days of street fighting and the biggest ever domestic operation by the Thai army.