THE YOUNGER sister of disgraced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was besieged by yellow-shirt protesters before she escaped out the back door of a hotel on Phuket this afternoon.

Yinglak Shinawatra, 42, came to Phuket to present Thaicom Foundation cheques to 47 schoolchildren who have shown exceptional aptitude.

While the presentations were taking place inside on the third floor of the Metropole Hotel in central Phuket City, demonstrators gathered outside.

The yellow shirt supporters carried placards saying that the Shinawatra family was not welcome on Phuket. They chanted and waved hand-clappers.

Khun Yinglak told Phuketwan that she had come to Phuket to give students an opportunity. Her presence had nothing to do with her brother, except that it was his charitable foundation.

Students who were given 6000 baht each today towards schooling were chosen after completing an essay, ''My Perfect Thailand of the Future.''

Khun Yinglak escaped the protesters by leaving through a back entrance, creating the impression she was departing in a minivan, then moving to a smaller vehicle to make her getaway.

Thaksin Shinawatra, a former PM of Thailand, remains a fugitive from charges of fraud in his own country.

However, he does have a large number of red-shirt supporters, and about 50 of them demonstrated yesterday on Phuket against the current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva . . . by wearing black shirts.

The classic yellow-shirt versus red-shirt situation is becoming harder to follow. Some yellow-shirts today were wearing green shirts, because the political party emerging from the People's Alliance for Democracy now has two colors, yellow and green.

The PM has been known to wear orange, which is a middle-of-the-road combination of yellow and red.

Very soon, ordinary people may be able to again wear any color they like, any time they like, without being accused of having a political leaning.

Khun Yinglak's next stop to hand out money to more children is in Undon Thani, a north-eastern province.

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