Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (TRT) was dissolved and its leaders barred from politics Wednesday after a special court found senior party officials guilty of tampering with elections in April 2006.

To make matters worse for TRT, its main political rival, the Democrat Party, was acquitted of similar fraud charges by the same court.

While the decision stunned TRT supporters countrywide, its impact has perhaps been felt more strongly in the kingdom's north, among mostly poor farmers and villagers who are Thaksin's most ardent loyalists.

"I feel hopeless about Thai politics," said Duangta Ongprom, a 40-year-old newspaper vendor whose shop sits a few hundred meters (yards) from the site of the original Shinawatra silk factory, founded by Thaksin's grandfather in this orderly northern town where the future prime minister was born.

"Since his government was ousted, many projects which benefit poor people such as scholarships were cancelled," she said, referring to the public improvement programmes that were a pillar of Thaksin's pro-poor policies.